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08-18-2009, 04:56 PM
By Nahal Toosi - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Aug 18, 2009 14:08:05 EDT
KABUL — Sen. John McCain called Tuesday for more American troops in Afghanistan, saying that doubling the number of Marines in one southern region could lead to “significantly more success.”
The former Republican presidential candidate, along with other members of a visiting congressional delegation, also said that Afghanistan’s elections this week were a milestone event, but that the U.S. was not backing one candidate over another.
The group’s two-day visit included meeting with Marines in southern Helmand province, where U.S. and Afghan forces are staging a major offensive aimed at clearing out Taliban militants ahead of Thursday’s vote.
The visit comes as Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, is working on a review of the Afghan war strategy. President Barack Obama has already ordered additional deployments that will put a record number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan by year’s end.
McCain declined to say exactly how many more troops he thought were needed before learning the general’s views on how the war is going, but he did say more troops were need in Helmand, the world’s largest opium-poppy growing region.
“There are three Marine battalions now in Helmand. I think it’s very clear that if they had six Marine battalions, there they would enjoy significantly more success,” the Arizona senator said, adding that additional Afghan troops were needed, too. There are roughly 3,000 troops in a battalion.
McChrystal is expected to identify shortfalls that could be filled by U.S. forces, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said a revised war plan will contain no request to expand the U.S. fighting force.
The White House is skeptical of further troop additions in Afghanistan. Despite warning that defeating the Taliban and al-Qaida will take “a few years,” Gates is worried that enlarging the U.S. presence could upset Afghans.
Already, the White House ordered 21,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan this year, bringing the total by the end of 2009 to a record 68,000. Combined with other NATO troops, more than 100,000 Western forces will be in the country.
The senators also said more U.S. civilian power was necessary to help develop Afghanistan and keep regions from falling back into Taliban hands once military operations cease.
They said they were aware that the Taliban were trying to disrupt the voting process, but that the election was critical to Afghanistan’s evolution as a democracy.
However Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned that whoever wins must eliminate corruption, help establish rule of law and push forward on economic development.
“One of the reasons the Taliban have re-emerged is that the government has failed the Afghan people,” he said. “I’ve been coming here for years and almost no one I know of of importance has ever gone to jail. And there is a lot of corruption in this country. So once the elections are over a lot of hard work begins by Americans and by Afghans and our NATO partners.”
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/08/ap_afghanistan_mccain_081809/
Posted : Tuesday Aug 18, 2009 14:08:05 EDT
KABUL — Sen. John McCain called Tuesday for more American troops in Afghanistan, saying that doubling the number of Marines in one southern region could lead to “significantly more success.”
The former Republican presidential candidate, along with other members of a visiting congressional delegation, also said that Afghanistan’s elections this week were a milestone event, but that the U.S. was not backing one candidate over another.
The group’s two-day visit included meeting with Marines in southern Helmand province, where U.S. and Afghan forces are staging a major offensive aimed at clearing out Taliban militants ahead of Thursday’s vote.
The visit comes as Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, is working on a review of the Afghan war strategy. President Barack Obama has already ordered additional deployments that will put a record number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan by year’s end.
McCain declined to say exactly how many more troops he thought were needed before learning the general’s views on how the war is going, but he did say more troops were need in Helmand, the world’s largest opium-poppy growing region.
“There are three Marine battalions now in Helmand. I think it’s very clear that if they had six Marine battalions, there they would enjoy significantly more success,” the Arizona senator said, adding that additional Afghan troops were needed, too. There are roughly 3,000 troops in a battalion.
McChrystal is expected to identify shortfalls that could be filled by U.S. forces, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said a revised war plan will contain no request to expand the U.S. fighting force.
The White House is skeptical of further troop additions in Afghanistan. Despite warning that defeating the Taliban and al-Qaida will take “a few years,” Gates is worried that enlarging the U.S. presence could upset Afghans.
Already, the White House ordered 21,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan this year, bringing the total by the end of 2009 to a record 68,000. Combined with other NATO troops, more than 100,000 Western forces will be in the country.
The senators also said more U.S. civilian power was necessary to help develop Afghanistan and keep regions from falling back into Taliban hands once military operations cease.
They said they were aware that the Taliban were trying to disrupt the voting process, but that the election was critical to Afghanistan’s evolution as a democracy.
However Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned that whoever wins must eliminate corruption, help establish rule of law and push forward on economic development.
“One of the reasons the Taliban have re-emerged is that the government has failed the Afghan people,” he said. “I’ve been coming here for years and almost no one I know of of importance has ever gone to jail. And there is a lot of corruption in this country. So once the elections are over a lot of hard work begins by Americans and by Afghans and our NATO partners.”
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/08/ap_afghanistan_mccain_081809/