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US military chief wants more troops for Afghan war
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-16 09:17 Several other Democrats have said they want a clearer timeline and measures of progress from the administration before approving large expansions of the troop commitment or mission. Congress has approved most of the money Obama requested for the war so far, but a large troop increase would probably require a separate add-on spending bill. The head of the House's defense spending panel, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., this week questioned the logic of adding troops. "In Vietnam it took 500,000 troops and that didn't solve the problem," the Vietnam veteran told the foreign policy blog The Cable. "We have to take a different approach." Recent national polls indicate slipping support for the war and growing doubt that it can be won. The latest AP-GfK survey found that less than half — 46 percent — now approve of Obama's handling of Afghanistan, a 9 percentage point drop since July. A CNN poll conducted this month said 39 percent supported the war and 58 percent opposed it. That compared with 53 percent supporting and 46 percent opposing in early April, days after Obama announced a new war strategy and vowed to provide resources in ways his predecessor had not. Fifty-one US troops died in Afghanistan in August, more than in any other month since the US-led invasion in October 2001. Mullen spoke at a hearing on his nomination for a second term as the nation's highest-ranking military officer. He is expected to win easy confirmation. Mullen's remarks, cautious as they were, are the first clear marker in an internal debate over Obama's next steps. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has not made up his mind whether to support a troop increase beyond the current level of 68,000, his spokesman said. Gates has long worried publicly that too large a force in Afghanistan would be self-defeating because Afghans would see the troops as occupiers, but he has recently sounded resigned to at least a small expansion. At the State Department, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters Tuesday that the administration would deliberate "for some time," suggesting no decision was imminent. "Everyone is providing their best ideas and making their contributions about the way forward in Afghanistan," Clinton said. The Senate committee's ranking Republican, John McCain of Arizona, said committing too few forces to the war would invite a rerun of mistakes the US made in Iraq. "I've seen that movie before," said McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee. Although Mullen and other senior military leaders say the Afghan armed forces are the key to a successful US exit from the war, Mullen suggested Tuesday that reliance on more Afghan training at the expense of full-on combat is a false choice. "Sending more trainers more quickly will give us a jump-start, but only that," Mullen said. "Quality training takes time and patience." Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., took the point further. When Mullen told him it would take two to three years to train enough Afghan troops to do the job, Graham asked what would happen in Afghanistan in the meantime. "I think the security environment will continue to deteriorate," Mullen replied. Then Graham made a larger point about public support in the US, one that hung over all the specifics of troop levels and trainers and the abilities of the Afghan government. "Do you understand you've got one more shot back home?" Graham asked, mentioning the poll results. "Do you understand that?" "Yes, sir. Yes, sir."
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