Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday praised U.S. President Barack Obama’s new plan for the war in Afghanistan.
“He has our full support,” Karzai told a news conference. “This was better than what we expected.” Obama unveiled the plan Friday which called for more troops, new legislation, improved troop training and added civilian expertise in the war in Afghanistan. Obama said the plan would address what he called an “international security challenge of the highest order.” Obama said the “situation is increasingly perilous” in the region in and around Afghanistan, where the United States has been fighting al Qaeda and the Taliban for more than seven and a half years after it was attacked in New York and at the Pentagon. Obama said he is sending another 4,000 troops to Afghanistan along with hundreds of civilian specialists, such as agricultural specialists, educators and engineers. The troops — which are in addition to the 17,000 the president announced earlier would be sent to Afghanistan — will be charged with training and building the Afghan Army and police force.
