‬‪‪ ‬‬‬‪‪As President Obama continues to deliberate about whether to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, Fox News Middle East Correspondent Reena Ninan sat down with former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, who has been working behind the scenes to advise U.S. policymakers on the issue.

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Ninan: President Obama is mulling how many troops to send to Afghanistan. I've seen multiple plans that would boost troop numbers from anywhere between 10,000 and 40,000. What's your advice?‬‬‪‪ ‬‬‪‪

Khalilzad: General McChrystal has talked about 40,000. He's talked about a counter-insurgency strategy and he believes he needs those forces to conduct an effective counter-insurgency strategy. I would take his advice. As a commander, he was given an assignment and now he has come back saying [that] in order for him to do his job, this is what he needs. I would give that great weight.‬‬‪‪ ‬‬‪‪ I would think the civilian side talking about how much military force is needed is like asking a medical doctor about the requirements for an agricultural problem. I think the embassy has an appropriate role, clearly, to weigh-in on the strategy. But its focus ought to be more [on] the civilian requirements--in terms of what we can do to make the Afghan government more effective.‬‬‪‪ ‬‬‪‪

Ninan: One thing the White House has been saying to Karzai is that he needs to crack down on corruption. How should he do that?‬‬‪‪ ‬‬‪‪

Khalilzad: Well, one of the weaknesses of the current situation is that our ability to influence President Karzai to do what is in his interest, and the interest of Afghanistan, has been very limited. It's very important now that he is reelected that trust is reestablished. And the way to do that is not by publicly hectoring him. I think he's a proud person and he will react negatively.‬‬‪‪ ‬‬‪‪ When I was there for the two years as ambassador, I had a very good and effective relationship with President Karzai. So it can be done. But trust needs to be restored. Trust has been damaged between the administration and President Karzai.‬‬‪‪ ‬‬‪‪

Ninan: What constitutes "winning" in a place like Afghanistan?‬‬‪‪ ‬‬‪‪

Khalilzad: Success means an Afghanistan that can increasingly stand on its own feet--an Afghanistan that is not a source of extremism and terror.‬‬ ‪‪ ‬‬‪‪ If extremists win in Afghanistan or in Pakistan, it will transform this region as a whole. It will bolster extremists and terrorists across this region and would pose a major challenge to the rest of the world, increase the threat to the United States, [and]undermine American credibility. We cannot afford that. The alternative will be quite dangerous not only for the people of the area, but for this entire region, including the rest of the world, and the United States.‬‬‪‪