Lawmakers grilled defense officials before the Senate Armed Services Committee as U.S. President Barack Obama rolled out his new strategy for efforts in Afghanistan.

Obama last week announced a major new strategy for Afghanistan that includes additional troops and trainers, a renewed focus on al-Qaida and non-military aid to Pakistan.

Obama may decide as early as this fall to send an additional 10,000 troops to Afghanistan on top of the billions in aid to Pakistan. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill, however, questioned the move as the Pakistani commitment to securing its western neighbor wavers, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., questioned Pakistani motives in the volatile tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan, while U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, the top general at U.S. Central Command, stressed that the Pakistanis may have other motives.

"Many Pakistani leaders remain focused on India as Pakistan's principal threat, and some may even continue to regard Islamist extremist groups as a potential strategic asset," Petraeus said.

A growing number of critics say the troop commitment in Obama's Afghan strategy may fall short of that needed to control the growing insurgency in southern Afghanistan. Pentagon officials said, however, the additional 10,000 troops would go to a new American headquarters in the south before the end of the year.

Group touts Afghan mine clearing
International groups cleared mines from thousands of acres of land in Afghanistan, though the threat continues to undermine progress, officials said.

Mohammed Haider Reza, program director of the Mine Action Coordination Center of Afghanistan, said the land mines contaminating the country are a constant threat to reconstruction efforts in the embattled nation.

"We want to move forward and become a strong and peaceful nation," he wrote. "However, the years of conflict have left many scars on our country and people that will take time and effort to heal."

Mine abatement efforts in 2008 resulted in the destruction of 2.5 million pieces of explosive ordnance, 84,000 anti-personnel mines and around 900 anti-tank mines from the Afghan landscape.

This effort, Reza notes, cleared more than 12,000 acres of land from mines and nearly 28,000 acres of battlefield.

This effort contributed to the increase in available power in Kabul as open land clears room for development projects. Reza noted additional operations near the Aynak copper mine south of Kabul would be a boon to the Afghan economy and provide jobs for the surrounding community.

"We know that being free from the threat of mines is now achievable," he said. "We cannot afford to neglect mine action if we truly desire a peaceful and prosperous country for ourselves and our children."

The International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance is Saturday.

Brits train Afghan troops in south
Troops with the Afghan army trained alongside British forces for future roles in securing the volatile southern province of Helmand.

A combat support group of about 350 Afghan troops underwent artillery, engineering and reconnaissance training to support the 3/205 brigade in the Afghan National Army.

Maj. Jim Hill with a British Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team said it was vital that Afghan forces learn conventional support techniques, the British Ministry of Defense reports.

"To be truly effective, the ANA need to be able to support their own operations, in the key areas of offensive support, combat engineering and reconnaissance," he said.

With international security forces taking the lead to control the growing insurgency in Helmand, Hill stressed the importance of autonomous Afghan forces.

Afghan troops conducted basic gunnery skills, preventative maintenance skills and indirect-fire procedures alongside their British counterparts.

Meanwhile, officers with the British Royal Engineers trained Afghans on mine awareness and disposal techniques.

"The ANA have worked very hard to master these skills, and it has been most rewarding for the mentors from these specialized areas to see the improvement in ANA capability," Hill said.

Iraqi Christians wary of security
The Christian community in Iraq is fearful of the security environment once U.S. military forces diminish their presence in the country, church officials said.

Chaldean Archbishop of Kirkuk Louis Sako expressed hope that the Christian minority in Iraq would be able to stand strong amid mounting tragedies facing the community, the Catholic News Agency reports.

"Under Saddam's regime, we had security but no freedom," he said. "Today we have freedom, but the problem is security."

Christians in Iraq faced a spate of targeted attacks last year in the north of Iraq, where much of the community is concentrated. More than 700 Christians were killed in the past five years, including Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, who was assassinated in Mosul in 2008.

As a result, much of the Christian community in Iraq has fled to Syria and other countries in the region to escape persecution.

"Some 200,000 Christians have left the country," Sako said. "This is a tragedy for us."

Despite the security challenges, Sako expressed confidence his community could reach out to their Muslim counterparts in order to live securely in Iraq.

"We have many problems, but we also have great hope. We are not afraid, but rather we want to be able to live together with the Muslims in Iraq in peace," he said.

Afghanistan not Iraq, McCain says
The apparent challenges from the growing insurgency in Afghanistan are not as daunting as the past experiences in Iraq, U.S. Sen. John McCain said.

McCain, the senator from Arizona and Republican presidential nominee in 2008, told an audience at the Foreign Policy Initiative that the strategic challenge in Afghanistan may be overstated, CNN International reports.

"It's (Afghanistan's) not as tough as Iraq, and don't let anyone tell you that it is, because when we started the (2007) surge, Iraq was virtually in a state of collapse," he said.

U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled a revamped strategy for Afghanistan last week, calling for an increase in troops and military trainers for Afghan forces.

McCain joined a chorus of voices who said the troop commitment needed in Afghanistan was well beyond what the White House has envisioned.

"I would have announced a dramatic increase in the Afghan army. I'm talking about a 200,000 (to) 250,000-person army," he said. "It's a big country, it's a big population."

Michael O'Hanlon with the Brookings Institution noted recently that conventional counterinsurgency standards would dictate Afghanistan should have "600,000 total security forces, at least in rough numbers."

Figures from the Afghan army, however, show the total manpower for the force stands at around 46,000 personnel, though thousands are recruited each month.

McCain, meanwhile, linked the security situation in Afghanistan to U.S. national security, saying it is a must-win situation.

"We will and can and must succeed, but it's not going to be easy," he said.

Report slams Afghan strategy
The Washington strategy to address security challenges in Afghanistan will tie U.S. and NATO forces down for decades, an analysis said.

U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled a new strategy for Afghanistan last week, calling for an increase in military support, renewed focus on the threat posed by al-Qaida and non-military aid to Pakistan.

In a scathing report on that strategy, the liberal Institute for Policy Studies said the U.S. strategy for Afghanistan will tie American forces to Afghanistan for years.

"Obama's plan for Afghanistan will likely result in the U.S. (and NATO) being trapped in the region for decades to come," the report said.

The Afghan strategy also places a greater emphasis in boosting the capability of the Afghan national forces. However, IPS cautioned that, with corruption reaching pandemic levels in all levels of Afghan institutions, it is unlikely that Afghanistan will be able to sustain its own security.

On the reconstruction front, IPS said that not only does Afghanistan lack the ability to maintain its own infrastructure, but the funding outlined by the Obama administration -- $5 billion through 2014 -- is not enough.

And while holding to the proposal for Afghan solutions to Afghan problems, IPS called for a timetable for a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan within the next 18 months "to give the Afghans one more chance to take control of the situation and turn things around."

Will exists for Afghan mission
Massive challenges face the international effort to support Afghan development, but the will exists to improve on modest gains, a NATO report said.

NATO released its second annual report on Afghanistan, stressing the need for a continued commitment to support a stable and secure country that is no longer a threat to the international community.

Security across Afghanistan was mixed, with a violent insurgency blooming in the southern and western provinces and relative security maintained in parts of the north and west.

Meanwhile, Afghan national forces increased in strength and capability, with Afghan troops assuming control over Kabul for the first time, the NATO report said.

The central government in Kabul, for its part, was able to expand its control moderately, though corruption at the national, provincial and district levels continues to plague development on that front.

In terms of the economic prospects, the report noted that Afghanistan remains one of the poorest nations in the world, though its gross domestic product grew by an estimated 7.5 percent in 2008 while trade with its neighbors increased.

"While the challenges in Afghanistan remain huge, so is the international will and the international effort to help the Afghan people overcome them," the report said.

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