Washington: US President Barack Obama has said that the new Af-Pak strategy and a decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan is unlikely to be taken before the November 7, the runoff date for Afghan Presidential Elections.
"I think it is entirely possible that we have a strategy formulated before a runoff is determined. We may not announce it," Obama told the NBC in an interview.
"We also want to make sure that we don`t put resources ahead of strategy," Obama said when asked if he can really make a decision about sending more troops to Afghanistan without knowing the results of the runoff elections there.
Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also threw some hints after his meeting with Obama at the White House yesterday that the new policy would be announced only after the elections are held.
Kerry briefed the US President on his latest trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan, wherein he was successful in convincing Hamid Karzai to agree to the run-off.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Kerry said it is important for the administration to know who their partner is in Kabul and if it is on the same page or not.
"We are now in a position to have a legitimate next president of Afghanistan, and that is a very significant step with respect to the possibilities," Kerry said.
"So I think Americans should be pleased that this decision is going to be made in an orderly, thoughtful and substantive way," he said in response to a question.
However, Senator Joe Lieberman said Obama should not wait till the runoff elections are held or the new government is formed.
Lieberman said he does not buy the argument that the US needs to know who its partner would be in Afghanistan before sending troops to the country.
"To me, this is a fight that we have an American national security interest in against the Taliban and al Qaeda," he said, adding as Afghanistan goes into run-off, the Taliban on the ground has the initiative.
"We are there not to advocate or protect any particular leadership of Afghanistan, we`re there really to secure the people of Afghanistan and to help them determine their own future and to get the Taliban and other Islamist extremists out of there," he told Fox News.
"The truth is that if the President makes this decision to increase troops before election day, it is going to give more Afghans the confidence to come out and vote.”
Remember, last time the Taliban said in a lot of areas of the country, if you go to vote, you`re going to cut your finger off, and they did that in some cases," he said.
Bureau Report
