U.S. outgunned in Afghanistan
TOP U.S. OFFICER BLUNTLY SAYS IRAQ WAR LIMITING OPTIONS
By Josh White
Wa****ngton Post
Article Launched: 07/03/2008 01:31:26 AM PDT
WA****NGTON - The nation's top military officer said Wednesday that more
U.S. soldiers are needed in Afghanistan to tamp down an increasingly
violent
insurgency, but that the Pentagon does not have sufficient forces to send
because they are committed to the war in Iraq.
Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said
insurgent Taliban and extremist forces in Afghanistan have become "a very
complex problem," one that is tied to the extensive drug trade, a
faltering
economy and the ****ous border with Pakistan. Violence in Afghanistan has
increased markedly in recent weeks, with June the deadliest month for U.S.
soldiers since the war began in 2001.
"I don't have troops I can reach for, brigades I can reach to send into
Afghanistan until I have a reduced requirement in Iraq," Mullen told
re****ters at the Pentagon. "Afghanistan has been and remains an
economy-of-force campaign, which by definition means we need more forces
there."
Mullen has raised similar concerns over the past several months, but his
comments Wednesday were more pointed and came amid rising concern at the
Pentagon over the situation in Afghanistan, where insurgents have
regrouped
in the south and east.
Mullen and President Bush also addressed the possibility of a conflict
with
Iran in separate appearances Wednesday, with both saying they favor
diplomacy over the use of military force. Asked directly about the
possibility of an Israeli strike against Iran, Bush, in an appearance in
the
White House Rose Garden, said: "I have made it very clear to all parties
that the first option ought to be solve this problem diplomatically." But
he
refused to rule out the use of force in the standoff over Iran's suspected
effort to develop nuclear weapons.
Bush also promised to send more U.S. soldiers to Afghanistan by the end
of
the year. He acknowledged the increasing violence there, saying that
"we're
going to increase troops by 2009," but did not offer details.
Mullen said military commanders are looking at the prospects for sending
additional soldiers to Afghanistan in 2009, but only if conditions in Iraq
continue to improve over the coming months, which would allow some forces
to
be withdrawn and reallocated. The war in Iraq has occupied as many as 20
military brigades during the troop buildup over the past year, reducing
violence there substantially but convincing many officers and experts that
a
quick drawdown in Iraq would jeopardize gains.
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