Editorial: Obama's moment of truth

OPINION: He's got the prize. Now Barack Obama needs to show he deserved it.

The Nobel committee's decision to give its peace prize to the United States president was based more on hope than on achievement. It is now up to him to deliver. His first task is to settle on a viable strategy for Afghanistan.

At the moment, the US risks becoming mired in a muddle of indecision as Mr Obama prevaricates over whether to escalate the war and commit more US troops.

His choice should have been made easier by Afghan President Hamid Karzai's acceptance that there must be a runoff vote in the presidential election.

Western troops cannot create long-term stability unless the government in Kabul is credible. There is no guarantee that the runoff Mr Karzai has reluctantly agreed to will deliver that. A fortnight is not a long time to organise another poll and Mr Karzai will no doubt again try to stuff the ballot box.

A third of his votes in the first round were ruled fraudulent by the United Nations-backed Electoral Complaints Commission. Nor will a second poll dispel concerns about the probity of Mr Karzai, whose government and family have been accused of corruption and ties to drug dealers.

What is certain, however, is that without the runoff, Mr Karzai would have had no claim to legitimacy.

Mr Obama's hesitancy over committing more troops and resources is understandable. The historically shambolic state of affairs in Afghanistan was made worse by his predecessor's decision to concentrate US efforts on Iraq, a decision that has allowed the Taleban to rebuild.

However, he needs to follow through on the counter-insurgency strategy decided on in March to stabilise and unify Afghanistan rather than simply to wage war on terrorists. Letting the Taleban continue to build its influence while hoping it will not again allow al Qaeda to operate in its territory is a strategy doomed to failure. The aim must be to deny al Qaeda a sanctuary as well as to directly attack it.

That means more soldiers, more resources and a commitment to reconstruction and development.

As part of that approach, Mr Obama has sought the assistance of other nations. The New Zealand Government has volunteered Special Air Service troops.

For him to dither now over an increased US military commitment is to risk losing the enormous international goodwill that he enjoys. Certainly New Zealanders would be entitled to question whether they should be putting SAS members in harm's way if the US is not willing to significantly increase its own commitment.

Dabbling in Afghanistan has seen many great powers humbled. No matter what the US and its allies do, they may be unsuccessful. Increasing the commitment to Afghanistan may simply throw more money and lives down a rat hole.

However, Mr Obama has called the war in Afghanistan a war of necessity for the US. If he wants that to be anything other than a rhetorical flourish, he must put more American boots on the ground and spend more American dollars. If he achieves success in Afghanistan, he will truly deserve his prize.

- © Fairfax NZ News