Mullen: 2 years to turn tide in Afghanistan - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Mullen: 2 years to turn tide in Afghanistan

U.S. coalition forces need more equipment, supplies and helicopters with heavy engines to accompany thousands of troops on the way to Afghanistan, the top U.S. military official said.

Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke to reporters Monday at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank.

“I am hopeful that we can in the [next] 12 to 24 months really stem the trends which have been going very badly in the last three years,” Mullen said. “It is going to be a very violent 2009 and 2010.”

Mullen indicated it may take at least two years to see the increasing violence start to change. Part of the coalition strategy includes sending lighter-weight ambush protected vehicles to the war zone, including thousands of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicles.

“The M-ATV is a lighter MRAP which provides the same kind of protection,” Mullen said. “I don’t think there is any question that the $26 billion that America has provided to us in MRAP has been more than worth the investment.”

Mullen emphasized the need to equip soldiers with enough weapons, gear and supplies such that they can fight through the upcoming winter months. Part of this effort will include a move to send helicopters with engines heavy enough to transport supplies and soldiers in Afghanistan’s high altitudes and mountainous terrain.

“You need helicopters with heavier engines to get you to heights. That was not required in Iraq,” Mullen said. “A great deal of what we have learned in Iraq is going to Afghanistan — equipment, increased level of ISR, and an increased number of unmanned vehicles.”

Mullen also expressed concern about the increase in terrorist activity in Pakistan.

“I don’t believe they are a country near failure, yet they have this resurgent terrorist threat which is getting closer and closer to Islamabad,” he said.

The coalition is looking to strengthen its strategy for dealing with al-Qaida members who find safe harbor in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal areas.

“In Afghanistan you have institutions that are nascent and an economy that is very weak, and a growing insurgency being fed by insurgents who cross from Pakistan,” Mullen said. “You also have the leadership of al-Qaida living in Pakistan and being protected by Pakistanis. The long range piece is to continue to put pressure along the northwestern frontier.”