Pat Dollard

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Reuters:

Air Force One landed in darkness at Bagram airfield north of the Afghan capital, and Obama was whisked by helicopter to Karzai’s palace in Kabul, where he was greeted by the Afghan president and a band playing the U.S. national anthem.

“I want to send a strong message that the partnership between the United States and Afghanistan is going to continue. We have already seen progress with respect to the military campaign against extremism in the region,” Obama told Karzai in front of reporters inside the palace.

“We also want to continue to make progress on … good governance, rule of law, anti-corruption efforts — all these things end up resulting in an Afghanistan that is more prosperous, more secure, independent,” he added.

Karzai said he hoped “the partnership will continue in the future toward a stable, strong, peaceful Afghanistan that can sustain itself, that can move forward into the future.”

U.S. officials said corruption and governance were among the issues that the president discussed directly with Karzai during talks that lasted barely half an hour.

Obama returned to Bagram, appearing in a bomber jacket, and delivering a speech to troops just before midnight, telling them he was confident they would have success in their mission.

“I want you to know … whether you are working here on Bagram or patrolling a village down in Helmand … your services are absolutely necessary, absolutely essential to America’s safety and security,” he told the troops.

Perhaps fending off criticism for having taken so long to visit the war zone, he said: “I want you to understand there is no visit that I consider more important than this visit I’m making now.”

In December, Obama ordered the deployment of an extra 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan and set a mid-2011 target to begin withdrawal. About a third have so far arrived, participating in a major offensive in the south of the country last month.

The Obama administration has had an uneasy relationship with Karzai throughout Obama’s 14 months in office, reaching a low point during a three-month Afghan election dispute last year.

The U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, wrote in a classified cable in November, later leaked, that Karzai was “not an adequate strategic partner.”

Obama speaks to Karzai much less frequently than his predecessor, former President George W. Bush, who launched the war after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

TROOP INCREASE

The trip allows Obama to see any early results of his troop increase, show support for military personnel and counter critics who say his focus on passing healthcare legislation has diverted attention from foreign policy.

Since Obama took office, the eight-year war in Afghanistan has shifted from a second priority behind Iraq to the main effort of the U.S. military. By the end of this year, the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan will have tripled under Obama’s watch to 100,000, along with about 40,000 from NATO allies.

Obama’s domestic victory on healthcare reform last week gives him political space to turn his attention to the Afghan war, which has mixed support from the American public amid rising casualties, costs, and corruption among Afghan leaders.

Obama traveled to Afghanistan during the 2008 U.S. presidential election campaign after being criticized by Republican challenger John McCain for failing to tour the war zone, but has not been back since his victory.

Afghan policy has been transformed during Obama’s year in office. Top U.S. officials held two long reviews of the White House’s war policy, both times electing to send tens of thousands of extra troops.

The war has become far deadlier and far more costly, setting records last year for the numbers of troops and civilians killed.

Karzai, who remained in power after a fraud-marred election last August, has launched a high profile effort to reconcile with the Taliban, who have made a comeback more than eight years since U.S.-backed Afghan militias drove them from Kabul.

The Taliban have so far spurned his offer to talk, although another insurgent group, Hezb-i-Islami sent a delegation to Kabul this month to present a peace plan. The palace revealed this week that Karzai had received them.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last week the timing was still not right for reconciliation with senior Afghan Taliban leaders.