Karzai Seeks to Keep Aid to Nation on U.S. Agenda

U.S. forces had destroyed the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai, just in from Kabul, the Afghan capital, was the man of the moment.

Karzai, now the president of Afghanistan, is back in Washington making many of the same rounds -- but the capital's attention is largely elsewhere. With the White House firmly focused on Iraq, Karzai is here to prod the administration to not forget his country.

He testified before Congress on Wednesday and meets with Bush today.

The immediate needs of Karzai's struggling government have remained largely unchanged: help with building roads, creating a communications network and, perhaps most important, establishing a national army and police force to meet basic security needs.

How the United States responds has assumed new importance in the context of the confrontation with Iraq.

The U.S. commitment to Afghanistan demonstrates "how we will approach post-conflict Iraq," Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said recently. "American credibility is on the line in these situations, and we must understand that failure to follow through could have extremely negative consequences on the war on terror."

The needs in Iraq would differ from those in Afghanistan. For example, Afghanistan lacks the oil resources that a new Iraqi regime could draw upon.

But in Iraq, as in Afghanistan, the Bush administration must be committed to a long-term role to prevent a civil war, foreign policy experts said.

"The day after the war, and four years after the war, we have to demonstrate staying power," said Karl F. Inderfurth, a professor of international affairs at George Washington University who served as assistant secretary of State for South Asia in the Clinton administration.

Concerns that Afghanistan's needs will be overshadowed by Iraq are the focus of Karzai's visit to Washington. They also go to the heart of the Kabul government's ability to turn back warlords' attempts to grab power.

One worry for Karzai has been Afghanistan's experience with international donors.