Cartwright: Afghanistan war tougher than Iraq - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Cartwright: Afghanistan war tougher than Iraq

The vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs warned Monday that U.S. troops and their families should not expect to relax if operations in Iraq wrap up soon.

Marine Gen. James Cartwright, speaking Monday in Arlington, Va., before a symposium sponsored by the Military Officers Association of America, predicted the situation in Afghanistan won’t be resolved as easily or quickly as was the case with creating a semblance of political stability in Iraq.

And even if Afghanistan is stabilized, the future is going to be one of military challenges, he said.

“The belief of the Joint Chiefs is, we are entering an era of persistent conflict,” Cartwright said, warning of hot spots “broadly spread across the planet” that are “difficult to solve and move on.”

Cartwright’s comments came during a professional symposium focusing on the difficulty facing the Defense Department in balancing its growing military personnel costs and the need to modernize weapons.

He offered no solution, other than to say that it is not just the traditional debate over guns or butter, but also a question of balancing guns, butter and operating costs, which also don’t seem like they will decline anytime soon. “You cannot drop any part of that three-legged stool,” he said.

Weapons costs and the procurement process are certain to get a lot of attention, he said, adding that there is a need for weapons platforms that cost less and are more adaptable. He said unmanned aircraft are a good example of systems that may be a wiser purchase, noting their flexibility in changing missions, in quick deployment around the world and in extended operations with limited support.

“Pressure is going to be on the modernization budget,” Cartwright said.

One reason for focusing attention on overhauling the weapons development process is that the traditional research, development and acquisition process is too drawn out to maintain a competitive advantage in many cases. “Before you get to bending the first piece of metal, you are building a legacy,” he said, suggesting that the competitive edge of military hardware today lasts no longer than about 30 months.

On Afghanistan, Cartwright said the “the first thing we need to do is introduce security.”

That takes more troops, and troops who can protect an area and stay there to provide continued security until Afghanistan can do that on its own, he said. Part of the reason Afghanistan will take longer to resolve than Iraq is that it has less of a history of strong central government, he said.

“This has been a difficult year in Afghanistan, but we are not at the point where it is broken,” Cartwright said.