Top U.S. Commander in Afghanistan Says Mission Will Fail Without Increase in Troops

According to a Washington Post report the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has said the mission in the country will fail without a sizable increase in troops within a year.

In the confidential report obtained by the newspaper McChrystal warned, “Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near-term (within a year)... risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible. McChrystal went on to say that without reversing the insurgent momentum through an increase in troops then the mission will “likely result in failure.”

McChrystal has also called for improved resources for the mission, saying they would be necessary to improve training for Afghan forces.

The general also noted that the military strategy within Afghanistan must be revised, making the protection of Afghan civilians its top priority. McChrystal has been critical of NATO forces regarding their concentration on engaging insurgents and in some manner disregarding the safety of the Afghan people.

It is that disregard that has led many Afghans to lose confidence in the mission and McChrystal addressed that concern when he pointed to what he perceives to be the problem, “Pre-occupied with protection of our own forces, we have operated in a manner that distances us - physically and psychologically - from the people we seek to protect.”

McChrystal outlined a revised course o faction concerning the military strategy, emphasizing the importance of protecting the civilian population and forming closer relationships within the community. He also stressed the importance of training Afghan troops so that they would eventually be capable of counter-insurgency attacks.

It remains to be seen how McChrystal’s report is received by President Barack Obama who has remained non-committal to the idea of further increasing the troop levels in Afghanistan. Obama has already approved a measure that will put an addition 68,000 troops in the country by the end of the year.

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