Asia-Pacific
McChrystal backs Afghan plan to skeptical Congress
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-12-09 14:28
WASHINGTON: Questioned by skeptical lawmakers, the US general running the war in Afghanistan said Tuesday he did not get as many troops as he wanted and must work under a schedule he did not recommend, but he insisted the Obama administration's revamped strategy is the best way to win.
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 Army Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal in Washington DC June 2, 2009. [Agencies]  |
Comments by Afghanistan's president and the US defense secretary suggested a long, slow effort.
On Capitol Hill, Gen. McChrystal declared under questioning by congressional committees, "I'm comfortable with the entire plan." But in lengthy sessions before Senate and House panels, the four-star general cautioned against expectations of immediate results and said the strategy must show progress within 18 months, Obama's deadline for beginning to bring US troops home.
"The sober fact is that there are no silver bullets," McChrystal said. "Ultimate success will be the cumulative effect of sustained pressure."
Karzai's comments, following a meeting with Gates, added more uncertainty to the planned exit of American troops. And they lowered expectations of any quick progress by shrunken Afghan security forces, which have long been expected to be equal partners with US forces and troops from 42 other countries stationed in Afghanistan.
In announcing last week his decision to order 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan, Obama said they would begin coming home in July 2011.
But Gates, in remarks to reporters in Kabul, reiterated that the administration expects the US withdrawal to be "a several-year process - whether it's three years or two years or four years remains to be seen."
Karzai's repetition Tuesday of his earlier warnings of a five-year buildup of the Afghan army and police make it likely that the American pullout could be a slow-motion drawdown that could extend through 2014. And he said his country will need international help to build homegrown security forces well beyond that date.
Administration officials have said the length and speed of the withdrawal will depend on the results of the military campaign against the Taliban, as well as the success of efforts to build up Afghan forces and strengthen the Kabul government.
In exchanges with lawmakers, both McChrystal and Karl Eikenberry, the US ambassador to Afghanistan, said the July 2011 date for starting the US withdrawal provides a "forcing function" to pressure the Afghans to get their own forces ready to handle security.
Hinting at a misgiving, McChrystal said the Taliban would make propaganda use of the withdrawal plan, presumably to encourage its fighters and their facilitators to believe the US will is weakening. He added that he believed this could be overcome.
McChrystal said he had not recommended the 18-month deadline for beginning a pullout and had preferred that more fresh forces be sent in.
Despite reports that McChrystal and Eikenberry have frayed relations and were at odds over the ambassador's opposition to a major troop surge, the two men took pains to say they are friends.
