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Obama faces divisive decision over Afghan troop increase
Sydney Morning Herald - September 17, 2009
Anne Davies, Washington – The US President, Barack Obama, will face a tough call within weeks over whether to send more troops to Afghanistan after the top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, said more troops are probably needed if the US wants to defeat the Taliban.
Such a move would be certain to anger his own party. Appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is considering his reappointment as chairman of the joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mullen inevitably faced questions on troop strength in the face of sharply rising casualties.
"A properly resourced counterinsurgency probably means more forces. And... more time and more commitment to the protection of the Afghan people and to the development of good governance," he said.
He did not say how many more troops were required – he is awaiting a request from the US Army General in charge of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Stanley McChrystal – but it is a clear sign that the military will push for more troops.
The issue is likely to prove politically divisive for Mr Obama. During the election campaign he identified Afghanistan as the more important front on which to tackle terrorism, but he has already boosted US troops from 32,000 at the start of the year to 68,000 by the end of the year.
As casualties have risen over the past few months, polls show that nearly 60 per cent of Americans now oppose the war.
Among Democrats there is concern that the President is straying from his stated mission of eliminating the top al-Qaeda leadership and building up the Afghan security forces sufficiently to stabilise the country so it would not become a safe haven again to something much broader.
Yet the notion of an Afghanistan "surge" seems to be finding support in the Republican Party and could quickly become another sharp faultline.
Senator John McCain, the committee's senior Republican, said the Administration should learn from the Iraq war and quickly deploy more troops.
"Every day we delay in implementing this strategy and increasing the number of troops there – which we all know is vitally needed – puts more and more young Americans who are already there... in danger," Senator McCain said.
Over the northern summer the Taliban forces have gained strength, taking control of large areas in the south around Kandahar and in the north-east in the border region with Pakistan.
Some in the White House are urging the President to hold to the current plan, saying that there are signs of success, with several senior al-Qaeda figures having been killed since the war intensified there.
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