Afghanistan Troop Request Expected this Week During Strategy Review
By Al Pessin
Pentagon
23 September 2009
The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan will submit his formal troop request to U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates this week, according to a Pentagon spokesman. But the spokesman says Gates will hold the request until the administration's review of its overall Afghanistan strategy is completed.
Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said it would be premature for officials to consider the request from Army General Stanley McChrystal until they have completed their review of progress in the strategy the president announced in March.
"There is no sense in complicating a discussion about strategy with the resource request," said Geoff Morrell. "We want to do them in order. And I do not think this is going to take unduly long, nor has it taken unduly long."
General McChrystal's troop request has been eagerly awaited, following the publication of his grim assessment of the situation and his statement that more resources are needed or the allied effort could fail. The secret document was published on Monday by the The Washington Post newspaper.
Geoff Morrell acknowledged that if President Barack Obama decides to adjust his strategy, there may have to be changes to the troop request.
"If there are adjustments, there may have to be adjustments made in terms of what is required to achieve the mission if it changes," he said.
Morrell said the general's request will contain further analysis and a range of force level options for the president to consider, along with a statement of the risks of the various options.
The spokesman also said Secretary Gates' thinking on the appropriate strategy and troop levels for Afghanistan is evolving. Morrell said senior officials are considering whether a full counterinsurgency campaign, with large numbers of troops and civilians, is the right approach.
In March, President Obama noted he would review his Afghanistan strategy from time to time.
"Going forward we will not blindly stay the course," said President Obama. "Instead, we will set clear metrics to measure progress and hold ourselves accountable. We will consistently assess our efforts to train Afghan security forces and our progress in combating insurgents. We will measure the growth of Afghanistan's economy and its illicit narcotics production. And we will review whether we are using the right tools and tactics to make progress towards accomplishing our goals."
The Pentagon's Geoff Morrell said the current review does not mean the counterinsurgency is dead, but rather that U.S. officials want to make sure their approach is right before committing significant numbers of additional troops.
He also noted that Secretary Gates has already said he does not believe air power alone can do the job, as some analysts have suggested.
President Obama has increased the U.S. troop presence by more than 21,000 to about 68,000. Analysts say General McChrystal could ask for 40,000 additional troops, and maybe more, to pursue the current effort to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaida, build the Afghan security services and support the Afghan government.
Morrell acknowledges the troop decision is particularly difficult because of the sharp increase in U.S. casualties in recent months. This year, more than 360 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan. That is 25 percent of total U.S. casualties in the full eight years of the war.
"There are no two people in government who appreciate the gravity of the decisions that are being discussed and that will ultimately be made than the Secretary of Defense and the President of the United States," said Morrell. "The secretary understands that this is a hugely consequential decision for the president, and he wants to make sure that the president, and himself frankly, are very comfortable with it before they send thousands more young men and women off to battle."
Morrell says it is in the troops' interest for the leaders to come up with a strategy that works.
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