US envoy frowns on Afghan surge

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama won't accept any of the Afghanistan war options before him without changes, administration officials say, amid an argument by his own ambassador in Kabul that a significant US troop increase would only prop up a weak, corruption-tainted government.

Obama's ambassador, Karl Eikenberry, who is also a former commander of US troops in Afghanistan, is voicing strong dissent against sending more troops, according to an administration official. This puts him at odds with the current war commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who wants thousands more troops.

Eikenberry resigned his Army commission to take the job as US ambassador in Kabul earlier this year, and his is an influential voice among those advising Obama on Afghanistan.