11 January 2011

Biden Says Taliban Momentum Has Been Arrested

Vice President Biden, left, met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai January 11 in Kabul at the presidential palace.

By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer

Washington — The United States, its allies and Afghan security forces are breaking the momentum of the Taliban insurgents working to regain control over portions of Afghanistan, Vice President Biden says.

At a January 11 joint press conference in Kabul with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Biden said, “It’s fair to say we have largely arrested the Taliban momentum here in some very important areas, particularly in Helmand and Kandahar.” But he added that these gains since a troop surge was initiated by President Obama last year are “fragile and reversible.”

“Sustaining them is going to require the Afghans to assume the responsibility for security and governance,” Biden said. “And it’s going to require more pressure on the Taliban.”

Biden, who arrived in Afghanistan January 10, and Karzai held a working lunch in the presidential palace compound, spoke in a one-to-one meeting, and met with their supporting delegations through a large part of the day January 11. Karzai said the talks centered on the U.S.-Afghan strategic partnership, security issues in Afghanistan and the region, and the complexities of the security transition process.

“We had discussions, and I’m pleased of the conclusions and of the results of our meetings,” Karzai told reporters.

Biden said that during 2011 the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force will begin to transfer responsibility for security in some provinces to the Afghan security forces, while the United States begins a “condition-based reduction” of forces starting in July. This is part of the U.S. and Afghan objective of having Afghan security in the lead throughout all of Afghanistan by 2014, he said.

It is not the intention of the United States to govern or to nation-build in Afghanistan, Biden told reporters. “As President Karzai often points out, this is the responsibility of the Afghan people, and they are fully capable of it.”

The United States stands ready to help in the effort and will continue to help after 2014, he said. The United States will not leave Afghanistan if the government and the Afghan people want U.S. personnel to remain.

“We plan on continuing to work with you, and it’s in the mutual self-interest of both our nations,” Biden said.

To maintain the support of the Afghan people and the U.S. public, Biden said, essential elements include improving the provision of basic services, promoting transparency and accountability in government, strengthening governmental agencies, and advancing efforts of “reconciliation with the Taliban” who are willing to reject al-Qaida, renounce violence and embrace the Afghan Constitution.

Biden conceded that none of this will be easy, but working together and with allies will provide a viable path toward success.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)