McChrystal backs US troop surge 9/12/09

		McChrystal backs US troop surge 9/12/09
La relazione di McChrystal al Congresso Source: Bbc
postato il	9 Dicembre 2009	news
McChrystal backs US troop surge BBC 8 dec 2009 The top US commander in Afghanistan has said there are "no silver bullets" for success there, but the troop surge will help reverse the Taliban's momentum. Testifying to US Congress, Gen Stanley McChrystal said President Barack Obama's deployment of 30,000 extra troops meant success was possible. He said the next 18 months would be crucial, but that he did not expect to need more troops to get the job done. But Gen McChrystal warned the Afghan mission was "undeniably difficult". He said coalition forces faced "a complex and resilient insurgency" and that Afghans lacked confidence in their government. "Success will require steadfast commitment and incur significant costs," he told the House Armed Services Committee. MARDELL'S AMERICA “ Beating the Taliban, he told the politicians, was a bit like defeating a political opponent: it didn't mean they had to be destroyed to the last man but were rendered incapable of accomplishing their mission ” The commander said the 30,000 US reinforcements would "provide us the ability to reverse insurgent momentum and deny the Taliban the access to the population they require to survive". He said he did not think he would need to ask for any more troops in a year's time, but would not hesitate to recommend more if circumstances changed. The US ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, who reportedly questioned the troop build-up during White House deliberations last month, also endorsed the new approach as "the best path to stabilise Afghanistan". The new battle plan includes an 18-month timeline before the first US troops would begin to come home. 'US committed' Hours before the panel convened, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates held talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the capital, Kabul. Speaking at a joint news conference afterwards, President Karzai warned that it would take 15 years before Afghanistan was able to pay for the cost of its own security forces, which the US wants to quadruple in size to 400,000 troops by 2013. "We hope that the international community and the United States, as our first ally, will help Afghanistan reach the ability to sustain a force," he said. For his part, Mr Karzai said he hoped the US and the international community would continue funding them, adding the US would not abandon Afghanistan. The two countries would need to be long-term partners, he said. The defence secretary said Mr Karzai needed to take a tougher line on corruption, but added that many ministers were competent and did not need to be replaced when a new cabinet is announced in the coming days. Mr Karzai said he was committed to doing so and that he would inform parliament of the names of a number of proposed ministers. Both men then agreed that it was a priority to strengthen the Afghan security forces in order to help international troops tackle insurgents. But Mr Karzai was also cautiously optimistic that his country would be able to begin taking over responsibility for security in some "critical" parts of the country within two years, before taking charge nationwide in five years' time. 'Civilians martyred' The president later condemned what his office said was the killing of six civilians in an overnight operation by Nato-led forces in the eastern province of Laghman. Local residents have protested against the reported civilian deaths, which they and provincial officials say number 12. The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said its troops killed seven militants and detained another four after coming under hostile fire while pursuing a member of the Taliban responsible for suicide bombings in the area. Meanwhile, in a sign of the country's security difficulties, there were reports on Tuesday that Afghan officers had opened fire during a protest by villagers over the deaths of civilians, which they say occurred during a Nato operation. According to one report, the Afghan soldiers fired into the air, but at least one person was killed. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/8402138.stm Published: 2009/12/08 17:44:02 GMT © BBC MMIX