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McChrystal to call for more troops in Afghanistan

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  • McChrystal to call for more troops in Afghanistan

    After a 60-day strategic review of Afghan operations, advisors to McChrystal concluded that more troops are needed.

    Afghanistan commander General Stanley McChrystal to call for more US troops
    1 Aug [Times] The top US commander in Afghanistan is on a collision course with the White House after it emerged that he plans to ask for more American troops to bolster dangerously under-resourced operations there.

    General Stanley McChrystal was brought in as the Nato commander in Afghanistan after the unprecedented dismissal of his predecessor, General David McKiernan, who had successfully pressured the Administration to deploy 21,000 extra troops in the current Afghan “surge”. ....

    .. advisers who worked with him on a 60-day strategic review of Afghan operations, the first drafts of which emerged this week, say that General McChrystal concluded that more US troops would be needed to support a vast parallel surge in the number of Afghan security forces fighting the Taleban.

    Anthony Cordesman, of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, who spent a month in Afghanistan on behalf of the advisory board, argued that without a doubling in the number of Afghan troops the conflict could be lost.

    Significantly increasing Afghan forces would require a major bolstering of the existing coalition force to provide enough troops to train and support them. ....

    Senior military officials told the Washington Post that General McChrystal was waiting for a recommendation from a team of military planners in Kabul before deciding exactly how many extra troops were needed. ....

    Such a request may prove politically tricky for President Obama, who has questioned whether “piling on more and more troops” would make a difference and faces opposition on troop increases from his own party.

    Jim Jones, the President’s National Security Adviser, warned American commanders in Afghanistan a month ago that no more troops would be forthcoming and that the strategy should focus on economic development. ....

    General McChrystal’s new strategy also calls for such an approach, with an intensified military effort to root out corruption among local officials. This may also put the military on a collision course with the Afghan Government led by President Karzai, members of which are heavily implicated in much of the country’s paralysing corruption, including the illegal drug trade.

    The aim would be to take the Afghan National Army from a size of 134,000 to about 240,000. The police force would be increased from about 92,000 to about 160,000. But Afghan police have long been identified as one of the weakest links in the security chain and highly prone to corruption and officials from several Nato countries have questioned how such a vast increase could be paid for given Afghanistan’s inability to fund even the existing force.

    For American and Nato troops, the new strategy foresees a major shift in their operational “culture”, forcing them into closer contact with locals in a bid to identify and befriend local power brokers and win them over to the government side.

    Counter-insurgency experts say that foreign troops in Afghanistan have failed to exploit local discontent with the Taleban and need to show civilians that they are capable of protecting them from attack. ....
    Last edited by Merlin; 01 Aug 09,, 10:50.

  • #2
    Gates has to come over to find out first hand from the Afghan commanders.

    Gates holds secret meeting with Afghan commanders
    WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates held an unannounced meeting with his top commanders in charge of the war in Afghanistan at a U.S. air base in Belgium, the Pentagon said on Monday.

    The meeting on Sunday at Chievres Air Base was arranged to give Gates an update on a review of the war being conducted by U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.

    "He wanted an opportunity to speak firsthand with his commanders and his senior military advisers about how the assessment was unfolding," Morrell told reporters.

    The unusual meeting was not announced in advance. In addition to McChrystal and Gates, the meeting was also attended by a handful of other top U.S. military and defense officials, Morrell said. He declined to discuss further details.

    The officials discussed a possible troop increase in Afghanistan, ABC News reported, citing defense sources who it did not identify.

    McChrystal's advisors have said publicly that he will need more boots on the ground even after force levels reach 68,000 U.S. troops -- on top of more than 30,000 from allied nations -- later this year. ....

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    • #3
      This effectively means Gates asked McChrystal to delay giving an expected bad review, and delay the expected request for more troops.

      Just in case the tide turns.

      U.S. general's Afghan review delayed - Pentagon
      6 Aug WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An assessment of the war in Afghanistan by the top U.S. and NATO commander there is no longer expected by mid-August and will not include a request for extra troops, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

      Defense Secretary Robert Gates had asked U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal to complete an assessment 60 days after he took command in Afghanistan in mid-June.

      But Gates gave McChrystal additional instructions and extra time to finish the review when they met at a U.S. air base in Belgium on Sunday with other top U.S. defense officials, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said. .....

      He said any request for additional forces would go through the normal Pentagon channels for approval.

      Advisers to McChrystal have said he will need more troops and other resources to turn the tide in a war that senior U.S. officials have acknowledged they are not winning.

      But McChrystal himself has yet to say whether he believes he needs more forces to carry out his mission. ....
      Last edited by Merlin; 05 Aug 09,, 23:43.

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      • #4
        I don't believe that more Troops are required, just a change in Tactics. They should take the fight to the Taliban at night, not during the day. Evening is when they get out and lay the IEDs'. They won't have the 'Night Fighting' capabilities as our Troops. Thats my thoughts.

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        • #5
          The other thing that really annoys me when I watch footage of vehicle patrols; they drive on the roads, unbelievable, no wonder we are losing so many to IEDs'.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Chaobam Armour View Post
            ... they drive on the roads, unbelievable, no wonder we are losing so many to IEDs'.
            Driving off road is too bumpy, too rough.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Merlin View Post
              Driving off road is too bumpy, too rough.
              I can't believe you actually said that We are talking Combat, not a day trip. Ofcourse off road is bumpy, thats why we use Combat vehicles, they are designed to drive off road. All my training and experience was always off road, unless of course you went Urban.

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              • #8
                Chaobam, I should have put a smiley :) after my tongue in cheek comment. :P

                I agree driving on the roads there can be deadly.

                Anybody knows why they still do it?
                Last edited by Merlin; 06 Aug 09,, 01:39.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Merlin View Post
                  Chaobam, I should have put a smiley :) after my tongue in cheek comment. :P

                  I agree driving on the roads there can be deadly.

                  Anybody knows why they still do it?
                  Phew thank God for that, I thought you were being serious for a moment. :)

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