As they prepare to roll out a new Afghan policy to a skeptical U.S. audience, Obama administration officials have begun recalibrating how they portray the war-damaged country and its government, subduing their grim assessments of the past year and emphasizing the positive.
Before now, U.S. officials stressed the arduous challenges facing the U.S. effort because of the battered condition of Afghan society and the corruption and ineffectiveness of its central government. But in recent days, the administration has praised the strides the country has taken and the skills and idealism of its officials, even the heavily criticized president, Hamid Karzai. They are talking up its economic potential, its educational progress and even its anti-corruption efforts.
"The picture in Afghanistan is much more positive than we often give it credit for," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said during a visit to Kabul this month. The message is aimed in part, officials say, at trying to build U.S. support for the expected U.S. troop increase at a time when most Americans have turned against the mission and some Democratic congressional leaders have concluded it is hopeless.
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