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Mullen would support request for more troops

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan is likely to ask for more troops — and if he does, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs indicated that he will support the request as part of a “properly resourced” counterinsurgency campaign.

“I do not know exactly what additional resources” Gen. Stanley McChrystal may ask for, Adm. Mike Mullen told the Senate Armed Services Committee today. “And I do not know what ratio of [training] to combat units he really needs.

“But I do believe that having heard his views and having great confidence in his leadership, a properly resourced counterinsurgency probably means more forces and, without question, more time and more commitment to the protection of the Afghanistan people and to the development of good governance.”

Mullen’s comments served as a mild Pentagon rebuff to committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who in a speech last week said no additional U.S. combat forces should be deployed until the launch of an “Afghan surge” aimed at accelerating the development and size of the undermanned army and police.

Mullen said he supports continuing to build up Afghan forces, but he added, “More important than the size of the Afghan security forces is their quality. More important than the orders they follow is the leadership they exude.”

Mullen also said he supports Levin’s proposal to re-integrate into civil society Taliban insurgents who may be more motivated by money and work than ideology — an idea patterned after the Sons of Iraq program that brought Sunni tribesmen into the fight against al-Qaida in Iraq.

But maintaining security in the interim is vital, Mullen said. “We cannot achieve these goals without recognizing that they are both manpower- and time-intensive,” he said. “Sending more trainers more quickly will give us a jumpstart, but only that. Quality training takes time and patience.”

Mullen said the enemy in Afghanistan “is not the insurgents.”

“The enemy is fear,” he said. “If you can remove the fear under which so many Afghans live, if you can supplant it with security and good governance, then you can offer them an alternative to Taliban rule. And if they have an alternative to Taliban rule, they will choose it.”

Regional strategy

Mullen also noted that the Obama administration’s strategy is regional in nature and that the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan “remains the epicenter of violent, Islamic fundamentalism.”

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who spokesman Geoff Morrell says met with Levin last week to discuss Levin’s proposal, has expressed concern over creating too large a troop “footprint” in Afghanistan.

Gates is concerned about stress on the force and other worldwide commitments and has expressed worries that a larger U.S. force in Afghanistan could come to remind some of the massive presence of the Soviet Union from 1979-1989. But he has subsequently noted that McChrystal has said the mission and conduct of those troops will dictate local reactions, and that he is open to McChrystal’s recommendations.

About 62,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, with roughly 3,500 training troops en route; the year-end total is expected to be 68,000. Other NATO forces in country number 38,000, according to the Pentagon.

Mullen said to expect a McChrystal request for resources “in the next couple of weeks.”

Mullen, who was called to testify on his renomination to another two-year term as the nation’s top military officer and uniformed adviser to the president, also rebuffed the idea that a smaller force relying on electronic surveillance, precision missiles and special operations troops can achieve the administration’s goals in Afghanistan.

“The president has given us a clear mission: disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qaida and its extremist allies, and prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven again,” Mullen said. “You can’t do that from offshore and you can’t do that by just killing the bad guys. You have to be there where the people are, when they need you there and until they can provide for their own security.”

Mullen said that view is shared by McChrystal, by U.S. Central Command chief Gen. David Petraeus and by the other Joint Chiefs.

Two Republican senators on the committee said they want Petraeus and McChrystal to come back to Washington testify on both the assessment and the way ahead. Mullen didn’t address those requests, but Gates is on record as opposing the idea, saying that McChrystal needs to stay on the job.