Obama faces big challenges in Afghanistan

By Sue Pleming

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama has pledged a new focus on the war in Afghanistan, including more U.S. troops and possible talks with the Taliban, but the challenges are daunting.

Taliban militants are spreading their influence, the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai is seen as ineffectual, Western military efforts are underfunded and poorly coordinated and Pakistan is widely criticized for not doing enough to fight militants in the tribal areas.

On the horizon are strategy reviews by Gen. David Petraeus, the overall commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as Republican President George W. Bush's White House and State Department, and a new National Intelligence Estimate.

The new Democratic president, who takes office in January, will have to take all of these reviews into account as they emerge in the coming months. Obama's decisions will also be shaped by the mounds of classified intelligence he now has access to as well as other secret war plans.

"It is one thing to make promises or statements as a candidate -- all of which are qualified -- and quite another to come into actual office," said Anthony Cordesman, a military expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"Presidents deal with realities. They don't implement campaign pledges," he said.

Obama's transition team refused interview requests on the president-elect's plans for Afghanistan, arguing there is only one president until Obama takes office on Jan. 20, 2009.

But Obama has indicated he wants a more regional approach to tackling Afghanistan, pressing key player Pakistan to do more but also engaging India, Russia and possibly Iran.