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'Tough year' ahead in Afghanistan: US general
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-19 09:24 WASHINGTON – Even with an additional 17,000 troops in Afghanistan, the top US commander there predicted "a tough year" in 2009 and said the fight against insurgents would require a major commitment of up to four years.
"Even with these additional forces, I have to tell you, 2009 is going to be a tough year," McKiernan told reporters at the Pentagon. "There are the baseline problems of poverty, and literacy, and violence that have occurred over the last three decades in that country, so that's not going to turn around quickly," he said. "But we do see, with these additional forces, an opportunity to break this stalemate, at least in terms of security conditions in the south," he said. The general said NATO troops were training Afghan military and police but that it would take up to four years before the international force could hand over to the Afghans and have them take a leading role. "For the next three to four years, I think we're going to need to stay heavily committed and sustain in a sustained manner in Afghanistan," McKiernan said. The general said most of the additional forces would be used in the south, a region where security has deteriorated and where large areas remain without any NATO military presence. He said it was likely violence would rise initially in territory where US forces set up outposts for the first time. "There are areas where we're not at today that, when we do put additional security forces, I would expect to see a temporary time where the level of violence might go up until we transition into holding and setting conditions to build." McKiernan had requested up to 30,000 additional troops, which would nearly double the size of a US force that has grown to 38,000 troops. The extra troops would be in place by the height of the fighting season this summer and before Afghanistan's national elections August 20, he said. The general said he looked forward to the arrival of the US reinforcements "and to further contributions and commitment by the international community," though he did not say if any NATO allies had offered extra troops. He spoke as US Defense Secretary Robert Gates was headed for a NATO meeting of defense ministers in Poland, where he was expected to push for more help from alliance members. McKiernan said he had received the American troops he had asked for -- two combat brigades plus support troops -- to see the mission through the summer and the elections. But he said he still had a request pending for another brigade to focus on the training of Afghan security forces. The decision whether to deploy those extra forces could be taken later in the year, he said. He also said it was possible that more troops on the ground might mean the NATO force would not have to rely so heavily on air strikes, which have claimed numerous civilian lives and triggered resentment among Afghans. "I think there's a possibility to have less reliance on air firepower," he said. US troops were working with Afghan and Pakistan authorities to tighten control over the country's porous border that has served as a haven for insurgents and Al-Qaeda, McKiernan said. But he added his forces could use more hi-tech reconnaissance, a coveted resource that is subject to competing demands from US troops in Iraq. Echoing a theme from President Barack Obama and military officials, McKiernan said that improving security would allow other development efforts to go ahead and that the conflict could not be solved by military means alone. "I've always said that this will not be a military outcome. This will eventually be a political outcome. It will be decided by people that live in Afghanistan," McKiernan said. "And so developing governance at all levels and socioeconomic programs are certainly very, very critical to this," he said. |
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