Cameron Is First Leader to Visit New Afghan President Ghani --- KABUL, Afghanistan — Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain became the first world leader to visit Afghanistan’s new president, Ashraf Ghani, on Friday, in an unannounced trip to mark the impending departure of British troops from the country while assuring the new government of continued financial and political support. -- KABUL, Afghanistan — Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain became the first world leader to visit Afghanistan’s new president, Ashraf Ghani, on Friday, in an unannounced trip to mark the impending departure of British troops from the country while assuring the new government of continued financial and political support. -- He also offered his blessing to the fledgling government led by Mr. Ghani, a former technocrat who came to power through a contentious political deal, but who has promised a sweeping agenda of overhauls and turned a friendlier face to Western allies than his predecessor, Hamid Karzai. -- “We are not leaving this country alone,” Mr. Cameron said. “In Britain you will always have a strong partner and a friend.” --- As the military operation winds down, Afghanistan’s immediate needs are financial. In November, Mr. Ghani and Mr. Cameron will host an international donor conference in London that will determine the extent of international aid to Afghanistan in the coming years. Britain has already committed to give 178 million pounds, or about $288 million, a year until 2017, Mr. Cameron said. -- Mr. Ghani has taken steps to assure Western donors that any further money will not be squandered. On Wednesday, he ordered the courts to take new action on the collapse of Kabul Bank in 2010, a $900 million scandal that to many Western donors embodied the impunity of the rich and powerful. -- A large part of the Afghan budget is absorbed by the wages of its 340,000-member security forces, which Mr. Cameron described in glowing terms in Kabul. “These are capable, determined forces,” he said. But those forces have been sorely tested this year as Taliban insurgents mount attacks on vulnerable districts across the country, including in Helmand. -- Mr. Ghani is seeking to move away from the belligerent attitude of Mr. Karzai, who frequently criticized foreign troops for civilian casualties, toward a friendly yet firm approach to Western allies that he needs to bankroll his government. --- On Friday, he acknowledged the sacrifices of British and other international troops who were killed or wounded in Afghanistan. Some had “left pieces of their body here,” he said, while others returned home with “haunting” memories. But he also reminded his Western allies that they had come to Afghanistan to secure their own interests. -- “Remember what brought us together was tragedy,” he said. “9/11 was followed by attacks on London. Your presence here has meant that London has been safe, as well as the rest of the world.” -- Afghanistan had suffered from “the ugly side of globalization,” Mr. Ghani said. “There cannot be fortress Europe or fortress America. We live, whether we like it or dislike it, in an integrated world where global forces, both for good and for evil, coexist.” - Read More, DECLAN WALSH, NYTimes, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/04/world/europe/david-cameron-makes-unannounced-afghanistan-visit.html?ref=world&_r=0