Clinton ties future U.S. aid to Afghanistan accountability

The United States is limiting its goals in Afghanistan and demanding better accountability from that country’s underperforming leader, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday, and she tied additional U.S. civilian help to results from the government in Kabul.

Clinton, an influential voice in deliberations about whether to add large numbers of U.S. troops to an unpopular eight-year war, said Afghan President Hamid Karzai could do more to reduce corruption and go after those who may have looted U.S. aid in the past.

“I have made it clear that we’re not going to be providing any civilian aid to Afghanistan unless we have a certification that if it goes into the Afghan government in any form, that we’re going to have ministries that we can hold accountable,” Clinton said.

The Obama administration wants a tribunal to prosecute major corruption crimes and a new anti-corruption commission, she said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week.”

“There [do] have to be actions by the government of Afghanistan against those who have taken advantage of the money that has poured into Afghanistan in the last eight years so that we can better track it and we can have actions taken that demonstrate there’s no impunity for those who are corrupt,” Clinton said.

President Obama is weighing ways to link the decision on additional troops and aid to better government performance in Afghanistan, but U.S. leverage is limited by the shifting objectives in the country since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion and a lack of accountability on both sides over the years.