Generals say more troops needed in Afghanistan
As needs rise, support wanes for Obama
BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Military commanders with the NATO mission in Afghanistan told President Obama’s chief envoy to the region this weekend that they did not have enough troops to do their job, pushed past their limit by Taliban rebels who operated across borders.
The commanders emphasized problems in southern Afghanistan, where Taliban insurgents continue to bombard towns and villages with rockets despite an influx of American troops, and in eastern Afghanistan, where the father-and-son-led Haqqani network of militants has become the main source of attacks against American troops and their Afghan allies.
The possibility that more troops will be needed in Afghanistan presents the Obama administration with a new problem in dealing with a nearly 8-year-old war that has lost popularity at home, compounded by new questions over the credibility of the American-backed Afghan government, which has just held an as-yet inconclusive presidential election beset by complaints of fraud.
The assessments about troop needs came as the top American commander in the region, General Stanley A. McChrystal, has been working to complete a major war strategy review, and as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, described a worsening situation in Afghanistan despite the recent addition of 17,000 American troops ordered by the Obama administration and the extra security efforts surrounding the presidential election.
“I think it is serious, and it is deteriorating,’’ Mullen said yesterday on CNN’s “State of the Union’’ program. “The Taliban insurgency has gotten better, more sophisticated, in their tactics.’’
The American commanders in Afghanistan spoke at length this weekend with Richard C. Holbrooke, Obama’s special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Over the past two days, Holbrooke visited all four regional military command centers in Afghanistan, and the message from all four followed similar lines: While the additional American troops, along with smaller increases from other NATO members, have had some benefit in the south, the numbers remain below what commanders say they need.
With the additional forces, the total number of American soldiers and Marines in Afghanistan is now about 57,000. It was unclear whether the commanders who spoke with Holbrooke told him exactly how many additional forces may be required.
Eastern Afghanistan, in particular, has been a trouble spot. Yesterday, during Holbrooke’s stop at the Bagram military base, Major General Curtis Scaparrotti, commander of the US and NATO forces in eastern Afghanistan, told him and visiting reporters that the Haqqani network was expanding its reach.
“We’ve seen that expansion, and that’s part of what we’re fighting,’’ he said.
American commanders believe that the Haqqani network, whose leaders Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin have been linked to Al Qaeda, are using sanctuaries in Pakistan to launch attacks against American and Afghan forces, as well as strikes against such targets as the Indian Embassy in Kabul last year.
The White House has clearly been concerned about declining support for the war among the American public.
After a stretch of recent polls illustrating that declining support, both Mullen and Lieutenant General Karl W. Eikenberry, the American ambassador to Afghanistan, went on the Sunday talk shows to discuss the direction of the mission.
“I’m certainly aware of the criticality of support of the American people for this war and, in fact, any war,’’ Mullen said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.’’
“And so certainly the numbers are of concern. That said, the president’s given me and the American military a mission, and that focuses on a new strategy, new leadership, and we’re moving very much in that direction.’’
Concerns about fraud in last week’s election have brought more complaints to Afghan election officials. President Hamid Karzai’s main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, told a news conference in Kabul yesterday that the number of suspected irregularities has been “alarming.’’
Afghanistan’s Election Complaints Commission said yesterday it had made a priority of investigating 35 complaints, including allegations of ballot-stuffing, voter intimidation, and violence that are considered serious enough to have affected the result.
The commission, jointly led by Western and Afghan officials, said it had received 225 total complaints of irregularities.
