WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2010


KLMNO THE WORLD


“I know you all have had a rough go of it, taken a lot of losses.” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, addressing troops in eastern Afghanistan


Little progress seen as talkswith Iran come to end


MEETING SET FOR JANUARY


Both sides offer differing views of challenges


BY GLENN KESSLER


geneva — When two days of talks between Iran and major powers ended here Tuesday, with few signs of progress except an agreement to meet again next month in Istanbul, the dueling news conferences by both sides laid bare the difficulties ahead. There was no public agree-


ment on what was discussed in the past — or even what will be covered in the future. EuropeanUnion foreign policy


WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates pins combat medals to soldiers at Forward Operating Base Connolly in Afghanistan’sKonar province. A reminder that the fight goes on As the administration prepares its Afghan war review, Gates visits troops along the Pakistan border


BY CRAIGWHITLOCK IN KABUL


P


ersistent reminders that U.S. troops remain em- broiled in a tough fight


greetedDefense Secretary Robert M. Gates as he toured eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, days be- fore the Obama administration is scheduled to complete a major reviewof its war strategy. A few miles from the Pakistani


border, in Konar province, Gates pinned combat medals on a doz- en soldiers as U.S. commanders reported a litany of challenges in attempting to secure the area. At another border-region base, in Nangahar province,Gates offered condolences to an Army platoon that suffered six deaths last week when an Afghan police officer opened fire on hisU.S. trainers. “I know you all have had a


rough go of it, taken a lot of losses,” Gates told soldiers at For- ward Operating Base Connolly in Nangahar, not far from the Tora Bora district, where Osama bin Laden narrowly escaped U.S. and Afghan forces nine years ago. “There’s no question being


here close to the border means they are in a tough fight,” Gates later told reporters. Gates’s visit to Afghanistan


came four days after President Obama touched down briefly at Bagram air base to meet with troops, and it coincided with a Marine general’s declaration that thebattle for the southernAfghan


city ofMarja is “essentially over.” Next week, the White House is scheduled to finish the first major review of its Afghanistan opera- tions since last December, when Obama ordered a surge of 30,000 additional troops in a bid to halt the spreading Taliban-led insur- gency. Pentagon and White House of-


ficialshave said that the surge has slowed the Taliban’s years-long comeback and that they are en- couraged by progress in some areas, particularly in the south. But they also have acknowledged that results have been uneven and that the insurgency has been resilient, despite the massive NATO troop buildup. One area that Obama adminis-


tration officials are likely to cite as proof that their strategy is working is Marja and surround- ing Helmand province in south- ern Afghanistan, which was among the first places that the president committed troops after taking office in 2009. In one of the largest offensives


of the war,Marines early this year pushed into theTaliban-dominat- ed city of Marja. Although the initial offensive was hailed as a success, insurgent resistance in the area proved more resilient than senior military officials ini- tially predicted, and efforts at building effective local Afghan government moved forward in fits and starts. Maj. Gen. Richard Mills told


reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday that the insurgency in


Marja today consists of littlemore than potshots atMarines, a major improvement over the heavy fighting this spring and summer. However,Marines are still facing strong resistance in other areas of Helmand, such as the city of Sangin. “We believe that we have ar-


rested the momentum of the Tali- ban in many parts of Afghanistan but not in all,” Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces, told reporters before he met with Gates in Ka- bul. “The Taliban does have still areas in which it has the freedom of movement and arguably the momentum.” Gates’s visit also coincided


with a trip to Afghanistan by British Prime Minister David Cameron, who said he is encour- aged by the signs of progress he sawwhilemeeting troops. Britain has the second-largest foreign military contingent in Afghani- stan, behind that of the United States. At anewsconference alongside


Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Cameron said that coalition forc- es “made real progress” this year. He added that “2011 must be the year in which that progress be- comes irreversible.” In his speech announcing the


surge a year ago, Obama prom- ised to begin withdrawing at least some U.S. troops by July 2011. Since then, many administration officials have sought to playdown the number of troops who will come home next summer. In-


stead, they have emphasized a different date, 2014, which is whenNATO and Karzai have said they hope Afghan forces will be able to take lead responsibility for security throughout the country. But with the surge of troops in


place, U.S. commanders are un- der pressure to show more re- sults. One of the toughest chal- lenges has been the border re- gion, where thousands of Taliban fighters are able to cross easily into Afghanistan from sanctuar- ies in the Pakistani tribal areas. Maj. Gen. John F. Campbell, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in eastern Afghanistan, said that the influx of coalition forces has helped but that they are still trying to secure some populated areas. U.S. troops have withdrawn from some remote ar- eas this year and are struggling in others, such as the Pech River Valley. Gates acknowledged that sim-


ply flooding some Afghan dis- tricts withU.S. troops, particular- ly in the east, hasn’t always worked. “In some of the areas, the Taliban tries to draw us in be- cause our presence creates oppor- tunities for them,” he said. “The lesson here is you


shouldn’t generalize about Af- ghanistan,” Gates added. “You re- ally have to take it a district at a time.”


whitlockc@washpost.com


Staff writers Ernesto Londono in Kabul and Greg Jaffe inWashington contributed to this report.


DIGEST INDIA


Bomb blast injures dozens in holy city Abombblast in theHindu holy


city ofVaranasi, during the height of the daily sunset prayer ceremo- ny Tuesday, injured at least 32 people and killed a 2-year-old child, officials said. Authorities said the blast was a terrorist attack. In a four-page e-mail, a terror-


ist group that calls itself the Indi- an Mujaheddin asserted respon- sibility for the blast, writing that the bombing was in retaliation for a September court ruling that divided the BabriMasjid holy site betweenMuslims andHindus. Police were searching the area


for more potential bombs. Prime Minister Manmohan


Singh asked the nation to remain calm. “The blast is an attempt to weaken our resolve by evil forces of terrorism in which terrorists will not succeed,” he said. One unanswered question


Tuesday night was whether the bombing was the work of home- grownMuslim extremists or mili- tant groups based in Pakistan, whooften say they launch attacks because of a list of grievances, including the 2002 Gujarat riots that targeted Muslims and the ongoing violence in the disputed region of Kashmir.


—Emily Wax CHINA


New prize offered to counter Nobel Only three weeks after the idea


was first publicly floated, China has cobbled together its own peace prize and plans to award it Thursday — the day before the Nobel Committee honors an im- prisoned Chinese dissident in a move that has enraged Beijing. Since Liu Xiaobo’s selection,


China has vilified the 54-year-old democracy advocate, called the choice an effort by the West to contain its rise, disparaged his supporters as “clowns,” and launched a campaign to persuade countries not to attend Friday’s ceremony in Oslo. The govern- ment is also preventing Liu — whois servingan11-year sentence for co-authoring a bold appeal for political reforms in the Commu- nist country — and his family members from attending. Amid the flurry of action came


a commentary published Nov. 17 in a Communist Party-approved tabloid that suggested China cre- ate its own award — the “Con- fucius Peace Prize” — to counter the choice of Liu. The first honoree is Lien Chan,


Taiwan’s former vice president and the honorary chairman of its Nationalist Party, for having “built a bridge of peace between the mainland and Taiwan.” —Associated Press


O’Donnell said in a statement. “Any suggestion of misconducton his part, made now, years later, is entirely baseless.” —Associated Press


Japanese space probe reaches Venus: A Japanese probe reached Venus and prepared to enter orbit on a two-year mission that would mark a major milestone for Ja- pan’s space program and could shed light on the climate of Earth’smysterious neighbor.


EITAN ABRAMOVICH/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES


Relatives mourn victims of a weekend landslide in Bello, a suburb ofMedellin, Colombia. Rescue officials said they had retrieved the bodies of more than 30 people, with as many as 90 other victims feared dead.


NIGERIA


Cheney accused of corruption in oil deal Nigeria’s anti-corruption agen-


cy on Tuesday charged former U.S. vice president Richard B. Cheney over a bribery scheme allegedly involving oil services firm Halliburton during the time


he served as its top official, a spokesman said. The charges stem from a case


involving asmuchas$180million allegedly paid in bribes to Nigeri- an officials, saidFemi Babafemi, a spokesman for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Halliburton and other firms


allegedly paid the bribes to win a contract to build a $6 billion


liquefied natural gas plant in Ni- geria’s oil-rich south, he said. Terrence O’Donnell, a lawyer representing Cheney, denied the allegations. “The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission investi- gated that joint venture exten- sively and found no suggestion of any impropriety by Dick Cheney in his role ofCEOofHalliburton,”


Regional organization suspends Ivory Coast: The chairman of the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, said Ivory Coast had been suspended from the 15-nation group. The suspension, announced by Nige- rian President Goodluck Jona- than, comes as Ivory Coast’s Pres- ident Laurent Gbagbo continued to refuse to step down after an election the United Nations says he lost. Meanwhile, hundreds of residents have fled Ivory Coast, U.N. officials said.


Netanyahu opposes sale ban: Prime Minister Binyamin Netan- yahu rejected an appeal by doz- ens of Israeli rabbis that residents should refuse to sell or rent prop- erty to non-Jews, a call that has raised tensions with Israeli Ar- abs. Netanyahu said the rabbis’ call was undemocratic and con- tradicted the Bible. —From news services


chief Catherine Ashton, repre- senting the major powers, spoke for only a minute and took no questions. She said that the talks this week were “detailed, sub- stantive” and that the discussions in January will cover “practical ideas and ways of cooperating toward a resolution of our core concernsaboutthe nuclear issue.” By contrast, Saeed Jalili, Iran’s


envoy to the talks, spoke to re- porters for 80 minutes, standing before a photograph of an Iranian nuclear scientist who was recent- ly killed.He began with a lengthy description of why the world needs Iran’s capabilities to pros- per. “Today, more than ever, Iran is powerful,” he said of a country under vast international sanc- tions. “It is in the best economic, political, regional and interna- tional shape.” Jalili told reporters that Ash-


ton’s comments were “disrespect- ful” and that the two sides had reached no agreement on what should be discussed at the next round of talks, but he did note a desire to reach “common ground.” He added: “I am telling you clearly and openly that halt- ing uranium enrichment will not be discussed at the Istanbulmeet- ing”—even though that is the key goal of major-power diplomacy. He suggested that the main focus of the Istanbul talks will be on the nuclear weapons stockpiles of the other countries at the table. In every respect, the outcome


of the latest round of discussions with Iran appears less substan- tive than the talks 14 months ago. Then, officialsannounceda series of agreements, includingaplan to meet again within a month. That meeting never happened, and one of the key agreements quickly fell apart. “Our expectations for these


talkswerelow,andIcan’t say they were exceeded,” said a senior U.S. administration official, briefing reporters on the condition of ano- nymity. The talks were “difficult andcandid,” with a fairamountof


“Iranian venting and posturing,” the official said. Iranian state media reported


that the nuclear programwas not discussed, but officials from the major powers — which included the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — said that Iran’s nuclear program took up 75 percent of the conver- sation. In particular, Iran on Monday provided its account of how it is complying with interna- tional obligations — and then on Tuesday morning the other side tried to demonstrate how the nation is failing that test, officials said.


But U.S. and other officials are


hoping that despite Jalili’s brava- do, Iran is slowly coming to real- ize that its tactics are leading it to greater isolation and economic woe. Assuming that the next meet-


ing will take place as scheduled, the challenge for the United States and its partners will be to turn the nascent process into something more substantial. TheU.S. official said the major


powers hope that the new talks will focus on steps Iran can take to build confidence, such as ac- cepting a revised version of an earlier agreement on a medical research reactor or agreeing to abide by an international accord to give notice ofany plans to build nuclear-related facilities. The research reactor deal was


the key achievement of the 2009 talks, but many of its elements— such as Iran giving up a substan- tial portion of its enriched urani- um — have become outdated, as Iran has forged ahead with its uranium-enrichment program. So it might require substantial renegotiation. In an ominous development,


Iranian President Mahmoud Ah- madinejad appeared to set high standards for success in the Istan- bul talks. He said the major pow- ers need to lift four sets of sanc- tions imposed by the U.N. Securi- ty Council — a move none would ever consider until the end of a long process. “We have done the easy bit,” a


senior European Union official said in an interview, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “There is no guarantee the next bit will work.” Yet he pointed out that the


prospect of another meeting is more solid than it was in the last round of talks. Then, Jalili never agreed to a meeting; he simply agreed not to dispute the West’s announcement of a follow-up meeting. It was essentially a bit of theater for the media, but the prospects for that meeting were tenuous. This time, Jalili also an-


nounced the meeting. As the E.U. official put it: “A meeting in itself is not a success. But in order to have successes, you have to have meetings.”


kesslerg@washpost.com


EZ SU


A9


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64