US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Afghanistan on Monday on a trip for talks with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and visit with US troops. Biden is to check on US efforts to begin a gradual withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in July, a timetable that has drawn criticism from some Republicans in the US Congress who fear abandoning a key ally.
Biden's trip was not announced in advance for security reasons. "The primary purpose of the trip is to assess progress toward the transition to Afghan-led security beginning in 2011, and to demonstrate our commitment to a long-term partnership with Afghanistan," a White House official said.
Karzai and his Western backers want Afghan security forces to assume security responsibility by the end of 2014. Upon landing at Kabul's airport aboard Air Force Two, Biden flew a helicopter to the US Embassy in Kabul for talks with General David Petraeus, chief of US forces in Afghanistan, and US Ambassador Karl Eikenberry. Biden will also meet US service members and civilian personnel, and tour an Afghan National Army Training Center. The trip is Biden's first time in Afghanistan as vice president. He was last in the country in January 2009.