| September 10, 2008 Pentagon chief cites caution on U.S. troop pullout
|
WASHINGTON (AP) - Improved security in Iraq will give the U.S.
military the flexibility to do more in Afghanistan in the coming
months, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Congress Wednesday,
after years of setting a lower priority for the Afghan fight.
But even as Gates hinted at possible further troop cuts in Iraq
next year, he said that a go-slow approach is justified by several
worrisome circumstances, including slow progress on the political
front.
"I worry that the great progress our troops and the Iraqis have
made has the potential to override a measure of caution born of
uncertainty," Gates told the House Armed Services Committee. "Our
military commanders do not yet believe our gains are necessarily
enduring - and they believe that there are still many challenges
and the potential for reversals in the future."
Gates also warned that "we should expect to be involved in Iraq
for many years to come, although in changing and increasingly
limited ways."
Gates said that sectarian tensions still exist in Iraq, and have
the potential to undo recent security progress.
The Pentagon chief was testifying one day after President Bush
announced that he has approved a plan to withdraw about 8,000 U.S.
troops by February. Some troops will leave this fall, but the
number of combat brigades in Iraq will remain at the current 15
until late January or early February.
Both Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, described a new emphasis on Afghanistan, included a greater
push to improved the Afghan security forces, and increased pressure
on Pakistan to work with Kabul to quell insurgents crossing the
border.
Mullen told the panel that while he is not convinced the
coalition is winning in Afghanistan, "I am convinced we can."
Under the Pentagon plan approved by Bush, one Marine battalion
will be sent to Afghanistan in November to replace two that are
scheduled to leave. And an Army brigade will deploy to Afghanistan
in January, increasing slightly the troop levels there in the
coming months.
Rep. Ike Skelton, a Missouri Democrat who chairs the committee,
pressed Gates and Mullen on whether the Pentagon is ready to change
its repeated assertion that it does what it can in Afghanistan, and
does what it must in Iraq - to reflect a new priority for the
Afghan fight.
Gates responded that the Afghan fight is more complex, because
there are more diverse enemies as well as a broader, more complex
coalition fighting them.
"I would say we are reducing our commitments in Iraq and we are
increasing our commitments in Afghanistan," he said.
Mullen, meanwhile, said it is critical that other federal
agencies provide much needed additional civilian support in
Afghanistan, including for provincial reconstruction teams. Defense
leaders made similar arguments in the past for the teams in Iraq -
urgently pressing for representatives from the Agriculture,
Commerce and Justice departments to help with the reconstruction
and economic rebuilding.
Those requests have often proved difficult to fill.
AP Military Writer Robert Burns contributed to this report.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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