Clinton's agenda in Afghanistan

Coming off a whirlwind tour of Asia that culminated in Beijing last night with President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has a full schedule on her surprise trip to Kabul today.

According to a senior State Department official, the secretary just finished giving remarks to the U.S. Embassy staff and is right now being briefed by Amb. Karl Eikenberry and his team, which includes Deputy Amb. Francis J. Ricciardone.  Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, is expected to join the meetings soon.

Later tonight, Clinton will have two meetings involving Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The first will be with a small group and then, later, Clinton and Karzai will sit down "at length" for a one-on-one talk.

Tomorrow, Clinton meets with a group of foreign ministers from the countries that make up the International Security Assistance Force before attending Karzai's reinauguration ceremony. After the ceremony, Clinton will have a sit down with Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta.

Finally, Clinton will get a briefing from one of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams that's in Afghanistan, before heading back to Washington. (The weather in Kabul is ice cold, the official reports.)

Meanwhile, special representative Richard Holbrooke is also in Kabul, although not on the exact same schedule as Clinton, his spokesman said. That's Holbrooke's first appearance in Afghanistan since the August elections.

UPDATE: Clinton previewed for the embassy staff the anti-corruption message she is set to deliver to Karzai in their meeting.

"There is now a clear window of opportunity for President Karzai and his government to make a new compact with the people of Afghanistan to demonstrate clearly that we’re going to have accountability and tangible results that will improve the lives of the people who live throughout this magnificent country," she said.