The speaker of the US House met with President Hamid Karzai in Kabul Saturday for talks about the ongoing American strategic review of the US mission in Afghanistan, the president's office said. Nancy Pelosi arrived in Afghanistan on Friday to meet with Afghan officials and US and NATO military leaders, said Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, a US military spokeswoman. Pelosi, D-Calif., also met with US troops during her two-day visit. President Barack Obama announced this last week a surge of 17,000 additional forces to bolster the record 38,000 US troops already in the country. Commanders say the troops are needed to fight a resurgent Taliban that has increased attacks over the last three years. Militants now control wide swaths of rural countryside. Karzai and Pelosi talked about the US strategy review of the situation in Afghanistan, and Pelosi reiterated America's long-term commitment to Afghanistan's security situation and economic development, Karzai's office said. Afghanistan was to send a high-level delegation headed by Foreign Minister Dadfar Rangeen Spanta to the United States on Sunday “to review the joint strategy and the fight against terrorism,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saturday. Afghanistan's interior and defense ministers, its national security director and chief of intelligence are on the delegation. Pakistan is also sending representatives to take part in the review. Spanta and Pakistan's foreign minister are expected to meet together with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Pelosi's visit comes about a week after a trip here by Richard Holbrooke, Obama's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Obama has promised to increase the US focus on Afghanistan while drawing down troops in Iraq. Democrats for years have said that former President George W. Bush neglected the Afghan conflict in favor of the Iraq war.
