Clinton: U.S. concerned about Afghan corruption

By David Alexander

MANILA (Reuters) - The United States is concerned about corruption and poor governance in Afghanistan and has raised those issues with the administration of President Hamid Karzai, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday.

But Clinton declined to say whether the issues were being weighed as part of President Barack Obama's review of his Afghan strategy..

And she would not confirm a Washington Post report that U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry had written memos to Obama expressing concern about sending more U.S. troops to the country until Karzai's government demonstrates it is willing to tackle corruption and mismanagement.

Karzai was recently elected to a second term in office in a fraud-tainted election.

"We are looking to President Karzai as he forms a new government to take action that will demonstrate ... to his own people that his second term will respond to the needs that are so manifest," Clinton told a news conference in Manila.

"I think the corruption issue really goes to the heart of whether the people of Afghanistan feel that the government is on their side, is working for them."

Obama is weighing final options for a new strategy for the Afghanistan war, including whether to send additional U.S. troops to stem a resurgence by the Taliban eight years after the start of the war.

The U.S. leader's top military commander in Afghanistan has recommended increasing the number of U.S. forces in the country. A proposal to add an additional 30,000 troops has gained favor among top advisers, officials said.