President Obama said he is not rushing to send more troops to Afghanistan without knowing full details of the strategies involved. Increase criticism from home against sending more troops.
Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan , mention a charge in strategic methods in Afganisthan is required. Success is achievable. Already acknowledge that ground insurgents have increase in Afghanistan. Also change have reduce bombing by air strike to reduce ciliavian casulities but indirectly exposing ground troops to casualities.
US troops deployed in Afganisthan. Increase in bombing and attack of insurgents in Afganisthan causing more troops casualities and distability to Afganisthan to Taliban insurgents.
Adm. Mike Mullen, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, taking his seat before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. Requesting more troops to train the Afganisthan force and local police.
Above, Afghan girls queue to have their nails colored by an American soldier on patrol with German ISAF soldiers. Admiral Mullen says the growing complexity of the war necessitates more troops.
President Barack Obama said Wednesday there will be no quick decision on whether to send more U.S. troops into the widening war in Afghanistan, saying "my determination is to get this right."
The president's comments came one day after Adm. Mike Mullen, his top military adviser as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, endorsed an increase in U.S. forces as likely necessary to battle a deepening insurgency. The U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, also has delivered a grim assessment of the war and is expected to follow up soon with a request for thousands of additional troops.
Obama said he is still considering an assessment he received this month from Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, and will await reviews from civilian and diplomatic officials and the results of the disputed Afghan election before making "further decisions moving forward."
Lawmakers have voiced increasing anxiety over the administration's war strategy, demanding more information about McChrystal's recommendations, including the need for additional forces. Some have called for a significant troop increase, while others have asked for a withdrawal timetable. Public opinion polls have indicated diminished support for the war, even as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, said Tuesday that more troops will probably be needed.
Why need to increase?
“I want to underline the fact that this is a matter of national security,” said Representative Ike Skelton, a Missouri Democrat who is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. “We ought to listen to General McChrystal, and I’m of the opinion to give him what he needs.”
Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee this week that the war effort probably would require additional U.S. troops to stem the insurgency and train enough Afghan security forces to ultimately take over.
Mullen said that while McChrystal hasn’t submitted a request for more troops and equipment, increasing the size of the Afghan army and police probably would require 2,000 to 4,000 more trainers than the U.S. and its allies have on the ground now.
“But I do believe that — having heard his views and having great confidence in his leadership — a properly resourced counterinsurgency probably means more forces, and, without question, more time and more commitment to the protection of the Afghan people and to the development of good governance,” Admiral Mullen said.
Response from Home ?
A range of officials have said that the White House hopes to have at least several weeks before having to deal with any request for more forces for Afghanistan — and the political implications of such a request here at home. But Tuesday’s debate on Capitol Hill, which framed the arguments for how to shape the mission, indicates that the sweeping public discussion is already under way.
Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, said Tuesday that Mr. Gates’s initial opposition to expanding the American “footprint” in Afghanistan had at least been softened.A group of about 4,000 trainers is scheduled to arrive in Afghanistan by November, bringing the American troop level there to 68,000.
Previously, Mr. Gates expressed apprehension over a force so sizable that Afghans would view the Americans as occupiers. Now, Mr. Morrell said, the defense secretary was taking to heart General McChrystal’s “explanation that it’s not so much the size of the force, but the behavior of the force that determines whether or not it is accepted by the Afghan people.”
During Admiral Mullen’s appearance before the Armed Services Committee, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, the committee’s chairman, laid out the emerging position of Congressional Democrats by insisting that accelerated efforts to train and equip Afghan security forces should precede any deployment of American troops beyond those already committed by the Obama administration. Mr. Levin’s stance is expected to have great sway because he is the committee’s chairman and the most powerful Democrat in Congress on military matters. Many House Democrats also oppose sending more troops.
But the committee’s ranking Republican, Senator John McCain of Arizona, countered by asserting that more troops were “vitally needed” in Afghanistan and that any delay in ordering more combat forces to the fight would put American lives at risk.
Admiral Mullen acknowledged the importance of the training effort advocated by Mr. Levin, but said that such a mission could not quickly provide the level of security required by the new counterinsurgency strategy.
“Quality training takes time and patience,” he continued. “Private trust by the Afghans — so vital to our purpose — is not fostered in a public hurry.”
Mr. McCain staked out an opposing view. He recalled that initial attempts in Iraq to shift the security burden to local forces from American forces were a colossal failure. “I’ve seen that movie before,” he said.
New goals for Afghanistan security force?
Mr. Levin said new goals should be established for Afghan security forces. The army, he said, should grow to 250,000 troops by the end of 2012, and the police to 160,000 officers by that date. The current targets are 134,000 army troops and 96,000 police officers by the end of next year.
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