• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton Opening Statement Hearing on U.S. Strategy and Operations in Afghanistan and the Way Forward

January 23, 2008

"We meet today to continue our discussion of the way forward in Afghanistan, and I am pleased that we have an exceptionally qualified panel of experts with us to share their thoughts and recommendations. Welcome Lieutenant General David Barno with the National Defense University, Ambassador Karl Inderfurth with George Washington University, and Dr. Barnett Rubin with New York University.

"Just recently, this Committee held a hearing with Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen on the same subject matter. In his opening testimony, Admiral Mullen emphasized that "our main focus, militarily, in the region and in the world right now is rightly and firmly in Iraq. It is simply a matter of resources, of capacity. In Afghanistan, we do what we can. In Iraq, we do what we must".

"Needless to say, I walked away from that hearing very troubled. I believe that we currently risk a strategic failure in Afghanistan and that we must do what it takes to avoid this disastrous outcome. We must re-prioritize and shift needed resources from Iraq to Afghanistan. We must once again make Afghanistan the central focus in the war against terrorism - our national security and Afghanistan's future are at stake.

"The President's recent decision to deploy additional troops to Afghanistan this spring is encouraging. 3,200 U.S. Marines will help train the Afghan National Security Forces as part of Operation Enduring Freedom and also strengthen the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in the country's troubled southern region.

"However, this deployment is largely a short-term effort to fill the gap in NATO requirements, which remains unfilled by our allies. It falls far short of the long-term strategy and commitment that is necessary for lasting success in Afghanistan. It appears there will still be a significant shortage of trainers and mentors for the Afghan National Security Forces.

"At the same time, there are predictions of explosive growth in Afghanistan's poppy fields this year. Economic development continues to lag. Official corruption is still widespread. The authority of the central government remains limited. And terrorist safe havens in Pakistan continue to thrive, at a time when internal instability in that country has been on the rise. Challenges in all these areas contributed to record-level violence in Afghanistan last year, and if not handled more effectively, I'm afraid the security situation in Afghanistan will continue to deteriorate.

"To be clear, there have been some truly impressive gains made in Afghanistan since 2001. However, any gains could quickly vanish if we don't capitalize on them.

"While our NATO allies and partners must certainly do more, the U.S. must lead by example. We cannot expect our allies to step up if the U.S. itself does not demonstrate a strong commitment to the success of the Afghanistan mission. The U.S. effort needs to be commensurate with the importance of our goal: to ensure that that the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan are destroyed for good and Afghanistan will never again become a safe harbor for terrorists.

"Gentlemen, I look forward to your testimony. Now I turn to my good friend and colleague from California, Duncan Hunter, for any statement he may wish to make."