Is the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan on the Way Out?

October 11, 2006 5:52 PM

Ronald E. Neumann, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, is going to get an early trip home, according to embassy insiders.

Neumann traveled to Washington to request an extension on his term in Afghanistan.  "Not only was that rejected, his term was shortened," says an analyst familiar with the case. 

Critics say the career diplomat was a poor sequel to the former U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzhad, who currently runs the U.S. embassy in Iraq.  They say Neumann failed to push Afghan President Hamid Karzai into making tough decisions, causing the U.S.-backed government to appear weak during the worst slide in Afghanistan's security since 2001.

Supporters of Neumann say he was as effective as he could be, given the dismal circumstances he inherited from Khalilzhad.  Analysts based in Afghanistan blame policies established soon after the Taliban was toppled for the country's current problems while embassy insiders say Neumann's term is ending because he refused to toe the Bush Administration's optimistic line on Afghanistan.

"He was too open about all the problems," said a senior embassy official.  "That kind of talk doesn't fly these days."

Neumann appears to be a victim of the ongoing power struggle between the Pentagon and the State Department. 

One insider says Neumann's fate was sealed in a scathing report by Marin Strmecki, an advisor to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who visited Kabul this summer.   

Meanwhile, the State Department maintains Neumann is valued as an ambassador.   "We think he's doing a great job. Secretary Rice relies on his advice to assist in developing policy," a department spokesperson told ABC News.