US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pushed back against the US military’s blunt warning that the battle against insurgents in Afghanistan would likely be lost within a year without more US troops.
Clinton’s comments in an interview with PBS television late on Monday came amid reports that the Pentagon has asked General Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, to delay a request for more troops.
In the interview, Clinton expressed “respect” for McChrystal’s assessment that the US would likely lose the war in Afghanistan within a year without more US forces.
“But I can only tell you there are other assessments from very expert military analysts who have worked in counter-insurgencies that are the exact opposite,” she said.
Clinton’s remarks were the latest sign of resistance by the administration of US President Barack Obama to a major escalation in the US commitment in Afghanistan without a lengthy internal review and debate.
The Wall Street Journal, citing defense officials, reported that US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked McChrystal to delay submitting his request for more troops until the completion of a review of the US war effort.
McChrystal’s assessment was leaked to the Washington Post a day after Obama, who faces sliding support for the war both within Congress and among the US public, defended the delay in making a decision about more troops.
“We’re going to test whatever resources we have against our strategy,” he said on Sunday. “We will do what’s required to keep the American people safe.”
McChrystal said a new strategy was needed, and warned that “inadequate resources will likely result in failure.”
The report was presented to Gates on Aug. 30 and is being reviewed by the White House, with McChrystal widely expected to make a formal request to increase the 62,000-strong US force.
“We hope to have some resolution to this matter very soon,” Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.
“But it is important to remember that regardless of when General McChrystal sends forth his request, the president first wants to fully discuss his assessment of the situation in Afghanistan and the strategy we are pursuing there before considering any additional resources for that effort,” Morrell said.
Clinton said the administration’s goal was “to take all of this incoming data and sort it out. And I don’t think anybody is going to push to a conclusion for the sake of a conclusion.”
She added: “So we have to be really clear-eyed about this. And what I’m very grateful for is that we’re not coming in with any ideological presuppositions.”
McChrystal, who assumed command of international troops in Afghanistan in June, said the campaign in Afghanistan “has been historically under-resourced and remains so today.”
This fact risks “a longer conflict, greater casualties, higher overall costs, and ultimately, a critical loss of political support. Any of these risks, in turn, are likely to result in mission failure,” he wrote.
The 66-page document — a declassified version of which is published at www.washingtonpost.com — describes a strengthening, intelligent Taliban insurgency.
Despite his call for a radical rethink, McChrystal maintained a cautious optimism for the long-term outcome of the conflict, insisting: “While the situation is serious, success is still achievable.”
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