Mullen: 2010 critical to future of Afghanistan - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Mullen: 2010 critical to future of Afghanistan

WASHINGTON — The top U.S. military officer said Tuesday the next 12 to 18 months will be critical to reversing momentum gained by insurgents in Afghanistan, with nothing short of the wartorn nation’s security at stake.

Not only that, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee: “Our future security is greatly imperiled if we do not win the wars we are in.”

Further, he added, “The outcome of today’s conflicts will shape the global security environment for decades to come.”

Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates appeared together in Congress to defend the Pentagon’s request to spend $192 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the next year and a half. Of that amount, $33 billion would be spent to widen the U.S. commitment in Afghanistan by sending 30,000 more troops there by fall.

At one point, Gates noted that there will be another review of Afghan policy later this year. “If our strategy is not working,” he said, “we will not just punch ahead blindly.”

Many anti-war Democrats are skeptical of endorsing such a hefty sum, even though President Obama says more troops would be necessary to ultimately end the campaign.

“Rolling back the Taliban is now necessary, even if not sufficient, to the ultimate defeat of al-Qaida and its affiliates operating along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border,” Gates told the Senate panel.

Obama’s strategy is “our best opportunity” to succeed, he added.

Senate Democrats didn’t use Tuesday’s hearing to push back on the war spending, signaling that Congress would probably endorse it as many have predicted.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the committee’s chairman, used his time to call on NATO allies to contribute more troops to train Afghan forces and to encourage Pentagon officials to keep an eye on other terrorist hotspots.

“We have already seen al-Qaida’s interest in places like Yemen and Somalia,” Levin said, “but we must attempt to ensure we are a step ahead of al-Qaida in places like West Africa and the South Pacific.”

Mullen said that while Afghanistan and Pakistan were “critical terrain,” the U.S. must deny al-Qaida safe havens elsewhere.

“These efforts will not require tens of thousands of American troops,” the admiral said. “Instead, we can work quietly and persistently with regional allies and coalition partners to deny al-Qaida territory from which to plot, train and project global terror operations.”

Mullen said that of the 30,000 additional troops that Obama has ordered to Afghanistan, 4,500 personnel have already deployed, with another 18,000 due to arrive by late spring. He said the remainder should be in place by early fall.