Washington: Top US military leaders support sticking with the current strategy in Afghanistan instead of a smaller-scale mission focused on hunting down Al-Qaeda figures, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
The commander of the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, the head of the regional Central Command, General David Petraeus, and the top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, all endorse the counter-insurgency strategy now being carried out in the Afghan war, press secretary Geoff Morrell said.
“I think, clearly, the senior military representatives who have equities here — General McChrystal, General Petraeus and the chairman — have all stated publicly their view of counter-insurgency as the preferred method of dealing with the threat we face in Afghanistan,” Morrell told a news conference.
The three officers all joined a high-powered review of war strategy at the White House on Wednesday as President Barack Obama weighs sending yet more troops.
The counter-insurgency campaign underway requires large numbers of troops protecting towns and villages from insurgents while investing in nation-building efforts.
McChrystal, who participated in the White House review by video link, oversees more than 100,000 foreign forces in Afghanistan — including about 65,000 American troops — and has put in a request for more.
An alternative “counter-terrorism” strategy being debated in Washington and often linked to Vice President Joe Biden would focus on hunting down Al-Qaeda or Taliban leaders, relying more on drone raids in Pakistan backed up by a smaller US force to prevent Al-Qaeda from using Afghanistan as a base.
Petraeus has said counter-insurgency doctrine does not necessarily require American boots on the ground and could employ Afghan or allied forces.
But the fledgling Afghan army is still being trained and recruited and NATO allies lack the resources and in some cases the political willingness to dramatically increase their troop contributions.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates also appears to share the view of the military commanders, voicing skepticism when asked about the alternative “counter-terrorism” approach.
Morrell said Gates remains open-minded on the question of strategy.
“I think the secretary, as you’ve heard in the past, has clearly been a strong proponent of counterinsurgency but he wants to have a thorough discussion with the president and the rest of the national security team about whether that does remain the best way to pursue our enemies in Afghanistan,” he said.
In an interview with ABC broadcast on Sunday, Gates criticized the counter-terrorism model.
“I think that the people that I’ve talked to in the Pentagon who are the experts on counter-terrorism essentially say that counter-terrorism is only possible if you have the kind of intelligence that allows you to target the terrorists,” he said.
“And the only way you get that intelligence is by being on the ground — getting information from people like the Afghans or, in the case of Iraq, the Iraqis.”
Morrell also said McChrystal and his deputy, General David Rodriguez, who oversees day-to-day operations, were looking at how to address signs of rising violence in the country’s north and west, areas that have been relatively secure until recently.
“We’ve seen pockets of problems in the north, particularly in Kunduz, and in the west, particularly in Herat, that are of concern,” Morrell said.
“And I think the commander and Lieutenant General Rodriguez will have to make some determinations about whether that requires an adjustment in the resources allocated to those areas.”
