Karzai Welcomes Withdrawal,

President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan welcomed the decision to withdraw more than 30,000 American troops over the next year, calling it the “right decision for the interest of both countries.”

“The Afghan people’s trust in the Afghan army and police is growing every day and preservation of this land is the job of Afghans,” said Mr. Karzai in remarks at a live broadcast Thursday morning.

But even as many senior Afghan officials echoed the president in supporting the withdrawal, closer to the ground, local leaders and ordinary people expressed fears of civil war, renewed Taliban encroachments and even government collapse.

Afghan security officials and politicians, including Mr. Karzai, have endeavored to project an image of Afghan self-sufficiency even though in most places the Afghan National Army remains heavily reliant on NATO forces, which are dominated by Americans. However in the mountain districts of eastern Afghanistan, the orchards of Kandahar Province and in the Parliament, which hears from elders and security officials across the country, many expressed deep doubts.

“I am totally against Barack Obama’s this decision with cutting the numbers of its soldiers; our national forces are not well trained and not well equipped,” said Mohammed Naim Lalai Hamidzai, the chairman of Parliament’s National Defense and Security Committee.

“They should keep training and equipping our forces until 2014 and then extend their existence in Afghanistan for 5 more years in the country and once our forces stand on their own feet then they can go and leave our country,” he said. “The Pakistani I.S.I. has infiltrated inside our national forces and the Iranians as well,” he added, referring to Pakistan’s powerful intelligence service, “and our national troops have been invited into parties they are not united parts of our army. They belong to some political parties so how can they fight the insurgents?”

Even in southern provinces such as Zabul where the governor is optimistic about the ability of Afghan army troops and the national police to maintain security, there is still a need for equipment, training and logistics. “We are leading the surge in some in some of the districts ourselves and the A.N.A. and A.N.P. are improving and fighting militancy on their own,” said Jan Rasoolyaar, the deputy governor for Zabul Province. “There is security even in far districts. The only thing that we still need is aerial and logistical support from the Americans.”

However, in neighboring Kandahar and Helmand, where the fight to force out the Taliban has been fierce and is still going on, local politicians expressed serious misgivings.

In order to bring a tenuous peace to the contested Kandahar districts of Zheri and Arghandab, the Americans had to bring in an entire brigade — roughly 5,000 troops. The security situation, while much improved, is hardly settled. In Zheri, the district governor said that despite hard fighting by NATO and Afghan troops over the last 10 months, the Taliban still had a presence.

“We have a problem in Zheri district, the enemy is still around, even I.S.A.F. is unable to secure the district and if the Americans pull out things will get worse,” said Niaz Mohammed Sarhadi, the district governor.

“The Americans are carrying out raids against enemy and the Taliban are active in the district, carrying out assassinations, planting mines and ambushing security

forces,” he said, adding, “The Afghan forces are not improved in their capability and quality, so this is not an appropriate time for withdrawal, this drawdown will send a negative message to civilians,” he said.

The district governor of Arghandab described the Taliban as waiting on the district’s outskirts like wolves outside a pen of sheep. “As soon as the Americans leave it will have a negative effect on security in Arghandab,” said Haji Shah Mohammed Ahmadi. “Now we are standing at a very sensitive points, the enemy is all around just waiting for a chance,” he said.

Ordinary Afghans reacted with a combination of conspiracy theories and fears. Older people said they saw a reprise of the Russians’ retreat in the late 1980s. “The Russians also did the same thing and they were cutting numbers of their troops step by step, just as Barack Obama is announcing,” said Wali Jan, 60, a taxi driver who takes passengers from Kabul, the capital, to Nangahar, a predominantly Pashtun province of eastern Afghanistan.

“After they leave Afghanistan, I am sure the civil war will begin because people who were helping the foreigners will face attacks and the Taliban will take the revenge on them,” he said.