Posted on 07/02/2008 5:47:09 PM PDT by SandRat
WASHINGTON, July 2, 2008 – Defense Department officials are very concerned about the situation in Afghanistan, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today.
“Violence is up significantly from a year ago,” Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said during a Pentagon news conference. For the second month in a row, more coalition servicemembers died in Afghanistan than died in Iraq.
Given the country’s harsh winters and unforgiving terrain, summer historically is the fighting season in Afghanistan, but the Taliban have become more organized and efficient, Mullen said. But part of the increase in violence is because there are more coalition and Afghan troops in the country. They are going into more areas, and the Taliban are responding, the admiral said.
Another factor, he said, is a combination of Afghanistan’s porous border with Pakistan and the Taliban using areas in Pakistan’s federally administered tribal area as safe havens. “There is much more freedom this year to move across the border,” the chairman said.
The NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan is at 52,700 personnel, and the effort in the country remains in what’s known as an economy-of-force mission, Mullen said. “What we’re going through now is an ability to win in the combat standpoint, but we don’t have the troops to hold the areas,” he explained.
Mullen said a recent statement by Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on the terrorist problem in the country is encouraging. He praised Gilani’s appreciation of the terrorist threat and the decision to place Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in command of Pakistan’s frontier corps in addition to the army.
Pakistani security forces launched attacks against the Taliban in and around Peshawar. “It’s important that this be sustained and pressure placed on insurgents,” Mullen said. “I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen, but I think we must be patient.”
U.S. assistance must be as robust as it can possibly be, and the Pakistani government and military must move as rapidly as they can against this problem, the chairman said.
U.S. and NATO leaders are focused on the challenges in Afghanistan, particularly in the east and the south. “We are exploring a number of options and opportunities to get a better understanding of the scope of the threat and the best means with which to counter it,” Mullen said. “I’ve made no secret of my desire to flow more U.S. forces to Afghanistan just as soon as I can. Nor have I been shy about saying those forces will not be available unless or until the situation in Iraq allows us to do so.”
The United States does not have the forces available to flow into Afghanistan without a reduced requirement in Iraq. “We’re on an increasingly positive path in Iraq, and … I’m hopeful that towards the end of the year, opportunities like that will be created,” Mullen said.
No easy solution or quick fix is available in Afghanistan, the admiral said, and more troops will be necessary. Some NATO allies have committed to sending more troops, but not until the end of the summer and into the fall.
“We need and are pursuing a broader interagency international approach -- one that includes infrastructure improvement, foreign investment and economic incentives,” Mullen said. “I’m hopeful these efforts will pay off in the future.”
But everyone needs patience, the chairman said. “As we have seen in Iraq, counterinsurgency warfare takes time and a level of commitment and flexibility,” he said. “We remain committed to a stable future for Afghanistan and her people, and I’m just as convinced as ever that we will achieve it.”
GEE, WHAT A SURPRISE!
That and the BS about us not crossing the Pakistan border!
Iraq is the central front in the War on Terror. We can’t let a few problems in Afghanistan, which is really a sideshow (and Osama is probably dead or disabled), distract our efforts in Iraq, where we are getting closer to victory evey day.
Thanks SandRat.
And yes, things are heating up in Afghanistan, to the point our guys are under intense fire/danger, and experiencing more hell now that the enemy is regrouping their efforts there. I know from personal correspondence, these heros are kicking butt, but at a great personal loss. God bless them all and, freepers, we need prayers for them right now.
Thank God we have young men and women willing to serve this country in war. When I hear people say the young people today aren’t worth a d****, I think of the hundreds of thousands of these, doing what many young folks in the U.S. did when called to duty in previous wars.
I am proud of these young men and women,and we all owe them great gratitude.
I see these young folks stateside (young to me, young enough to be my kids), and I always thank them for their service, buy their lunch, beer at a restaurant, etc.)
I also know some folks in the battle in Afghanistan theatre, and they are in some extreme battle, some on a third tour.
When they come home, we need a major effort to welcome and thank them for what they have accomplished. I’ll be there, like my Mom was in those dark days of WWII (she had several brothers on various battlefields in those years, and went as a 17 year old countrygirl far from her home to Richmond, VA, to weld ships so these WWII soldiers could have ships moved off the line faster).
We civilians can do a lot too. I bet I could weld a ship’s hull like my Mama did, whatever it takes.
It just shows that the Islamic Empire is running low on recruits. They are having to lessen the flow of Jihadi into Iraq to bolster the Afgan Taliban.
Add the two together and the death rats are lower all around, while we show more and more incursion into traditionaly enemy held territorys. At this rate the Jihad will fail within a few years. World wide, terrorism is sharply down.
The New World Order guys are going to have to come up with a different disaster to gain control, and soon.
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