The Big Story: In Afghanistan, Obama visits troops, officials

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)—Barack Obama visited Saturday with U.S. troops and Afghan officials in this war-weary nation, the focal point of his proposed strategy for dealing with threats to the U.S. if elected president.

While officially a part of a congressional delegation on a fact-finding tour expected to take him to Iraq, Obama was traveling Saturday amid the publicity and scrutiny accorded a likely Democratic nominee for president rather than a senator from Illinois. Security was tight and media access to Obama was limited by his campaign, and his itinerary in the war zones was a closely guarded secret.

Obama received a briefing inside the U.S. base in Jalalabad from the Afghan provincial governor of Nangarhar, Gul Agha Sherzai, a no-nonsense, bullish former warlord. “Obama promised us that if he becomes a president in the future, he will support and help Afghanistan not only in its security sector but also in reconstruction, development and economic sector,” Sherzai told The Associated Press.

The area where the meeting took place is not far from where Osama bin Laden escaped U.S. troops in 2001 after his al-Qaida terrorist group led the attacks on Sept. 11. With the ousted Taliban regime resurgent and given the al-Qaida goal of terrorizing the U.S., Obama has argued that the war in Afghanistan deserves more attention as well as more troops.

U.S. military officials say the number of attacks in eastern Afghanistan, where most of the U.S. forces in the country operate, has gone up by 40 percent so far in 2008, compared to the same period in 2007.

The top U.S. commander in Iraq said Saturday that after intense U.S. assaults there, al-Qaida may be considering shifting focus to its original home base in Afghanistan, where American casualties are running higher than in Iraq.

“We do think that there is some assessment ongoing as to the continued viability of al-Qaida’s fight in Iraq,” Gen. David Petraeus told The Associated Press in an interview in Baghdad.

Obama’s first overseas tour since securing the Democratic nomination — he is scheduled to travel to Europe through next week — could be key to honing his foreign policy strategy with less than four months before the election. His rival for the presidency, Republican Sen. John McCain, has criticized Obama for not spending more time in the region and for developing a policy without more firsthand knowledge.

In that vein, Obama was expected to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday.

Traveling with Obama were Sens. Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, and Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island. Both military veterans, the senators have been mentioned as potential Obama vice presidential running mates.