Obama administration has outlined a new campaign strategy for the war against Taliban in Afghanistan. Described as "new realism" by senior officials and diplomats, the new strategy seems to scale back the ambitions of George Bush.

 

Richard Holbrooke, Barack Obama's new envoy for Afghanistan, General James Jones, the new White House national security adviser, and General David Petraeus, the new commander of the Afghan campaign, all stressed that the new US's policy on the Taliban and al-Qaida would be governed by 'attainable goals' matched by 'adequate resources'.

 

Vice-president Joe Biden, in the first major foreign policy speech from the new administration, told a security conference in Munich that, the strategic review on Afghanistan is under way in Washington. He stressed that the new strategy would make sure that their goals are clear and achievable.

 

It is quite notable that all speeches from the Obama team didn't mention anything like building democracy in Afghanistan. Rather the emphasis was on creating sustainable security to try to prevent the Taliban from extending their grip on the country.

 

Briefing some broad outlines of the new strategy General James Jones said that, the new policy would place greater emphasis on going beyond military capacity to dealing with good governance, judicial reform, a focus on the police, and the war on drugs.