Afghanistan visit (11:15 eastern time zone) - Obama to visit Karzai & troops

NY Times release by Peter Baker (White House correspondent)

11:15 a.m.

Updated President Obama made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan on Friday as he sought to smooth over a troubled relationship with President Hamid Karzai and take stock of a nine-year-old American-led war that he hopes to begin winding down next summer.
Mr. Obama planned to head to the presidential palace to meet with Mr. Karzai, who has complained vocally about American military tactics in recent weeks. The president also planned to consult with his commanding general and visit American troops heading into another holiday season far from home.
Wrapped in a tight security cocoon, Mr. Obama was scheduled to be on the ground only for several hours in his second trip in nine months to a country ravaged by war. But his arrival came at critical juncture as he and other NATO allies are putting in place a transition plan intended to hand over control of the battlefield to Afghan forces starting in the new year with the hope of formally ending foreign combat operations there by the end of 2014.
Mr. Obama’s administration is also in the midst of conducting its own review of the counterinsurgency strategy he approved a year ago when he ordered the latest surge of troops that brought American forces to about 100,000, or roughly triple the number there when he took office 22 months ago. Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of American and NATO forces, has highlighted signs of progress, but others have expressed skepticism.
The president’s visit came at a time of renewed tension between American and Afghan allies. Mr. Karzai has spoken out lately against special operations raids that American officers believe have proved especially effective in rooting out insurgents. His government is also embroiled in a conflict over fraud in recent parliamentary elections that Western diplomats hoped would show improvement in a flawed democracy.
Mr. Obama’s plane touched down even as State Department cables obtained by the group Wikileaks and made available to a number of news organizations laid out a devastating portrait of a society awash in corruption and graft that has been fostered by Mr. Karzai’s own government. The cables questioned whether Mr. Karzai will ever be “a responsible partner” and depicted him as “erratic” and “indecisive and unprepared.”
But unlike his March trip, when Mr. Obama pressed Mr. Karzai over corruption and the frictions were on display, the president arrived in Kabul this time intent on working around the divisions. The White House shifted its approach to Mr. Karzai after that March trip, concluding that public divisions were doing more harm than good.