[R-G] All change in the US's Afghan mission

Mon Sep 22 23:02:27 MDT 2008

Sep 20, 2008

http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JI20Df01.html

All change in the US's Afghan mission
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - The direct costs of the seven-year "war on terror", which  
includes operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, have reached US$752  
billion, if the current year's appropriation of $188 billion is  
included, according to the non-partisan US Congressional Budget Office.

With the situation in Afghanistan further than ever from being  
settled, the US response, much like the financial crisis, is to throw  
more money and resources at the problem.

US General David McKiernan, who commands the North Atlantic Treaty  
Organization's (NATO's) forces in Afghanistan, said after a meeting in  
Afghanistan with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates this week that he  
needed a permanent increase in troop levels and other assets such as  
reconnaissance planes.

Although President George W Bush has said he will send an additional  
brigade (4,000 to 5,000 troops), McKiernan said he needed three  
brigades beyond that "to counter the increasing violence and speed up  
progress in the war". There are currently about 33,000 US troops in  
the country and if McKiernan gets his way, potentially more than  
20,000 troops could be added once support units are counted.

Gates said the George W Bush administration was considering possible  
changes in its war strategy in Afghanistan, without going into detail.  
The Independent of London has reported that the US is pushing for  
sweeping changes to the military command structure in Afghanistan, so  
the head of international forces reports directly to US Central  
Command (CENTCOM) instead of NATO.

The newspaper reported that one possibility under consideration was  
for NATO to continue to be in charge of logistics, force protection  
and public affairs, while direct counter-insurgency operations would  
be run from CENTCOM by General David Petraeus, who now oversees US  
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 From the US perspective, seven years after the invasion that toppled  
the Taliban, progress and speed are certainly needed in this very  
costly war.

Independent Western think-tanks paint a picture in which the Taliban  
have a presence in over 54% of the country, including all the  
important towns around the capital Kabul.

The influential international policy think-tank the Senlis Council  
reported recently, "Research this summer shows that over half of  
Wardak province - which neighbors Logar province, and is just 45  
minutes from Kabul by road - is under Taliban control, according to  
local Afghans. This information was gathered by Senlis Council  
researchers in June 2008, and is proof of the Taliban's resurgence in  
and around the capital, as well as in their southern and eastern  
heartlands."

Asia Times Online has reported on Taliban preparations to reach Kabul  
and its surroundings (Taliban have Kabul in their sights February 27,  
2008).

Taliban activities in Wardak are recorded in a recently released video  
by the Taliban's newly formed media organ, al-Samood. Footage shows  
camouflaged Taliban fighters on the main highway into the capital  
attacking a NATO supply convoy, driving around in captured Afghan  
police vehicles, ferrying ammunition and making preparations for a raid.

Neither the NATO military spokesperson in Kabul nor the Afghan  
presidential spokesperson responded to Asia Times Online's requests  
for comment on the video and the security situation around the capital.

The war theater expands
Given the lack of progress in Afghanistan, the US is actively taking  
the war into Pakistan, where the Taliban have sanctuaries in swathes  
of the tribal areas across the border.

Admiral Mike Mullen, on his fifth visit to Pakistan since he became  
chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff a year ago, on Tuesday tried  
to reassure Islamabad that the US would respect Pakistan's  
sovereignty. But the very next day there was a further Predator drone  
missile attack in South Waziristan in which it was claimed that a pile  
of the Taliban's rockets had been hit. This follows several other  
drone missions over the past few weeks and an operation by US special  
forces that killed about 15 people.

The Pentagon says Pakistan's military and civilian government are  
onboard with the missile attacks, a claim Pakistan dismisses.

Either way, the US incursions have unprecedented unity between local  
tribesmen, the Taliban and the rank-and-file Pakistani security forces  
deployed on the border regions. Tribal sources tell Asia Times Online  
that the next time American ground forces venture into Pakistan they  
will meet stiff opposition from these now-combined forces.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He  
can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002 at yahoo.com