Afghan President Hamid Karzai must curb corruption in his government or current gains being made on the battlefield could be lost, a group of U.S. lawmakers warned Wednesday on a visit to Afghanistan.
Ahead of a meeting with Karzai, Sen. John McCain, the senior Republican on the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, said he and three of his colleagues will express their concerns about rampant bribery and graft in the Afghan government.
"We are concerned about continuing corruption at all levels of government," McCain said. "We know that without addressing this very serious issue long-term success is jeopardized."
McCain, who was joined at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul by Sens. Joe Lieberman, Lindsey Graham and Kirsten Gillibrand, said the tens of thousands of U.S., NATO and Afghan troops who have been fighting in Taliban strongholds in the south have made progress in recent months, but significant challenges remain.
"Obviously the clearing, holding and securing is vital and what we are hopeful of is that good governance will go along with that," McCain said. But he added: "Now, whether it actually will or not is yet to be determined."
The lawmakers arrived in Afghanistan after visiting Iraq. Their next stop is Islamabad where McCain said the four would push Pakistani officials to pressure the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani insurgent network, which plots attacks in Afghanistan from hideouts inside Pakistan — out of the reach of coalition ground forces.
"The Haqqani network continues to operate with impunity and we will be going to Pakistan and raising that issue with the Pakistani leadership," said McCain.
Lieberman, an Independent from Connecticut and chairman of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee, said bipartisan support for Afghanistan continues in Congress following last week's midterm election. The support, however, is not unconditional, he said."Every time there is a corruption case, or evidence of corruption ... it makes it harder for us in Congress in a budget-difficult environment to sustain the support that we need to succeed here," Lieberman said. "That's why it's in Afghanistan's interest, President Karzai's interest to fight corruption."
Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, echoed Lieberman's comments, saying she too was concerned about "chronic problems with corruption, lack of transparency and oversight and accountability in funding and spending."
Graham of South Carolina, a top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, acknowledged Karzai's complaint that the flood of international money into Afghanistan also has fostered corruption.
"We've been spreading money around this country for years and actually we've been paying some of the people who are part of the problem," Graham said, noting that the U.S. and NATO are working to reform contracting procedures. "Better governance is the key to us leaving here and sustaining the gains we've made."
"There are a couple high-visibility (corruption) cases that hit close to home that have somehow stalled," Graham added, without identifying the cases.
He said he planned to tell Karzai that if corruption was not curbed, "there is no amount of troops in the world that can turn this country around."
Lieberman also said he planned to reassure Karzai that the U.S. was committed to Afghanistan — and that no mass exodus of U.S. troops was planned in July 2011, the date President Barack Obama hopes to start withdrawing American forces. Some Afghans liken the date to U.S. abandonment of the war and Lieberman said he's heard that even the Taliban were spreading rumors that Americans are leaving in mid-2011.
"What will happen in July 2011 is not the beginning of an American pullout," Lieberman said. "That was a goal the president set for a review of where we were, based on conditions on the ground. And if conditions on the ground justify, some American troops would begin to be withdrawn."
McCain was critical of Obama's July 2011 date, saying it has discouraged U.S. partners in Afghanistan and has convinced the Taliban that they only need to wait for the U.S. to leave. He said Obama needs to state clearly that U.S. troops will only be pulled out if security allows.
"He has not done that to my satisfaction so far," he said.
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