国际英语新闻：Obama to unveil new Afghan strategy in upcoming speech

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama will talk "explicitly" about an exit strategy when he delivers a prime-time speech on Afghanistan on Tuesday night, officials said.

    Although the speech is still in draft form, senior U.S. officials were quoted by the New York Times on Monday as saying that the president wanted to use the address not only to announce the immediate order to deploy roughly 30,000 more troops, but also to convey how he intends to turn the fight over to the Kabul government."

    "It's accurate to say that he will be more explicit about both goals and time frame than has been the case before," a senior official said on condition of anonymity.

    "He wants to give a clear sense of both the time frame for action and how the war will eventually wind down," he added.

    The officials said the time frame would not be tied to particular conditions on the ground nor would it be as firm as the current schedule for withdrawing troops in Iraq.

    Officials of one allied nation who have been briefed on the speech said while Obama would describe how the American presence would be ratcheted back after the buildup, he would also make it clear that a significant U.S. presence in Afghanistan would remain for a long while.

    Obama was also expected to describe commitments from Afghan President Hamid Karzai and specific benchmarks his government must meet: to crack down on corruption, deploy well-trained Afghan troops and police officers, and focus on development in one of the world's poorest nations.

    The president was expected to be far less specific about Pakistan, where Taliban leaders are commanding operations across the border against American forces, and where al-Qaida's central leadership still lives.

    The White House said last week that Obama would address the nation on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. eastern time (0100 GMT Wednesday) from West Point military academy.

    As the public is turning negative toward the Afghan war and his fellow Democrats are increasingly vocal in their opposition to a troop buildup in Afghanistan, the incoming decision is regarded as one of the most critical moment to shape his presidency.

    Obama ordered to send 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in March and U.S. troop levels there has grown to 68,000.

    However, as the situation in Afghanistan deteriorates, Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has been calling for 40,000 more troops since August to quell the insurgency led by Taliban.

    Obama has held 10 sessions with his war council on Afghan strategy since then and weighed several options for bolstering the American contingent.