Thread: 'Change' - Obama To Send 30,000 More GIs To War

More U.S. troops going to Afghanistan

Mullen calls India crucial to effort

Sara A. Carter (Contact)
Sunday, December 21, 2008

KABUL, Afghanistan | Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael G. Mullen on Saturday said the Pentagon has "revised" its counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, noting that any solution to the current crisis must include Pakistan and India.

Associated Press LISTENING: Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael G. Mullen listens to a question in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday.

He also said the United States would send up to 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan -- the largest force increase yet mentioned by a U.S. military official.

At a late-night meeting in Kabul, Afghanistan, Adm. Mullen told reporters that last month's terrorist attacks in Mumbai showed the havoc that as few as 10 well-trained insurgents could wreak and the ability of the insurgency to destabilize nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.

"It's also been my belief historically, if you look at the Afghan-Pakistan relationship and Pakistan being central to all of this, it's very difficult to talk about a strategy for Pakistan without talking about a strategy that includes India," Adm. Mullen said. "India is supportive of Afghanistan in many ways. I think we need to have a more comprehensive approach across the region."

The Mumbai attacks strained already unstable relations between India and Pakistan. India has warned that normal ties between New Delhi and Islamabad will halt until Pakistan takes strong action against the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which Indian and U.S. intelligence officials blame for the attacks that killed 171 people.

Officials in India have said they ruled out military action against Pakistan, but instability in the region remains a serious concern to U.S. defense and senior intelligence officials. U.S. officials fear that worsening relations between the countries could result in Pakistan diverting military resources that now are used to fight a resurgent Taliban, which has enjoyed refuge in the lawless border areas of Pakistan.

Gen. David McKiernan, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, had asked for roughly 20,000 U.S. troops to counter an increase this year in insurgent violence. Adm. Mullen on Saturday said that between 20,000 and 30,000 additional U.S. troops could be sent -- nearly doubling the force of 31,000 U.S. troops currently in the country.

Adm. Mullen said the additional U.S. troops headed to Afghanistan will aid in training and security operations.

U.S. officials had said the 20,000 troops would be deployed over the next 12 to 18 months, but Adm. Mullen said the reinforcements would reach Afghanistan "certainly by the beginning of summer at the latest."

U.S. defense officials are concerned that overall violence and large-scale terrorist attacks will increase throughout the country next year as insurgents, who have accumulated weapons and foreign recruits using money gained from the sale of opium, try to destabilize the upcoming presidential elections.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/de ... ghanistan/

They dragging troops form Iraq to move to Afgahanistan?