Holbrooke: We Have 'Enough Troops' in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 27, 2009 — -- U.S. Special Representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke completed a four-day trip to Kabul today, pitching the administration's new Afghanistan policy and hearing subtle suggestions that President Hamid Karzai's support was weakening ahead of next month's election.

Holbrooke brings an aggressive approach to altering U.S. policy in Afghanistan, unafraid to blame the Bush administration for contributing to the country's woes.

ABC News interviewed Holbrooke in Kabul - here is the transcript of the interview.

ABC News: There are people who think this is a stalemate right now. Do you agree?

Holbrooke: It's been a stalemate. Neither side was going to win. And that is not where you want American troops and those of our allies so we're changing it.

ABC News: What has the U.S. done wrong in Afgahnistan?

Holbrooke: If you're asking what we've inherited… the U.S. strategy was to eradicate the poppy crops and all that did was punish the poppy farmers and didn't cut the Taliban finances…. The U.S. spent hundreds of millions of dollars that weren't worth it…. This is an agriculture country. Afghanistan used to export grapes, raisins, pomegranates, even wheat. All that was destroyed when the Soviets invaded…. We're going to refocus on that. Give jobs to rural young men which will take them away from the Taliban….

We're going to help the government get strengthened. [Only] 10 percent of foreign aid [under the Bush administration] went through the government. The United States was in effect weakening the government it was trying to help….

We've sent 21,000 troops – 4,000 trainers, 17,000 combat – into the south to retake the south from the Taliban. The early indications of those operations are very positive, though it's too early to declare victory.