Karzai reaffirms 2014 goal for Afghan-led security

KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday reaffirmed his commitment for Afghan police and soldiers to take charge of security nationwide by 2014 and urged his international backers to distribute more of their development aid through the government.

Karzai spoke at a one-day international conference on Afghanistan's future that comes at a critical juncture: NATO and Afghan forces have launched a major operation to drive the Taliban out of their strongholds, and the insurgents are pushing back. Rockets fired at the Kabul airport Tuesday forced the diversion of a plane carrying U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Sweden's foreign minister.

Wearing a traditional striped robe and peaked fur hat, Karzai said that Afghanistan and its Western allies share "a vicious common enemy." But, he said, victory will come in giving Afghans as much responsibility as possible in combatting the insurgency within its borders. He was flanked by international diplomats including Ban and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"I remain determined that our Afghan national security forces will be responsible for all military and law enforcement operations throughout our country by 2014" — more than three years after President Barack Obama's date for the start of an American troop drawdown, Karzai said.

Karzai's reference to a "vicious enemy" appeared at odds with his recent more reconciliatory stance toward the Taliban and willingness to hold peace talks to end the nearly nine-year war amid growing recognition that the insurgents are unlikely to be defeated militarily.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance will never allow the Taliban to topple the government of Afghanistan. "Our mission will end when — but only when — the Afghans are able to maintain security on their own," he said.

The prolonged conflict has hobbled development in the impoverished country, and Karzai expressed Tuesday his government's desire to take charge of more of its affairs. He asked his international partners to channel 50 percent of their foreign assistance through the government within two years, and align 80 percent of their projects with priorities that have been identified by Afghans.

"It is time to concentrate our efforts on a limited number of national programs and projects to transform the lives of our people, reinforce the social compact between the state and the citizens," Karzai said. "Let us together focus less on short-term projects."