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No rift between US military and civilian leaders: Gates
Washington (AFP) Sept 27, 2009 Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Sunday denied any rift between the US military and the White House over the war in Afghanistan, and suggested a possible radical shift in strategy was unlikely. Asked if there was tension between military and civilian leaders over the pace of decision-making on the US-led mission, Gates said: "I don't think that's the case at all." Citing "an extensive conversation on the telephone" on Wednesday with the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, Gates said the military leader supported President Barack Obama's preference to take time to review strategy before weighing a request for more troops. "General McChrystal was very explicit in saying that he thinks this assessment, this review that's going on right now is exactly the right thing to do," Gates told ABC television's "This Week" in an interview taped Friday and broadcast on Sunday. "He obviously doesn't want it to be open-ended or be a protracted kind of thing." The Pentagon chief mentioned no deadline but said he expected the White House strategy review would take "a few weeks" before he would present Obama with the commander's request for more troops and resources. Amid reports of frustration among senior US military officers with the White House, McChrystal warned in an assessment of the war that without more troops in the next year, the NATO-led mission could fail. The general is expected to ask for 10,000 to 40,000 additional forces to help turn the tide against Islamist insurgents, but the exact number remains unclear. The pace for decision-making under former president George W. Bush on the Iraq war was slower, with the debate on strategy in 2006 lasting three months, said Gates, who served as defense chief under the previous administration. He also appeared to reject a possible alternative "counter-terrorism" approach to the war that would focus on hunting down Al-Qaeda figures and rely on air power instead of a large counter-insurgency force. "I think that the people that I've talked to in the Pentagon who are the experts on counter-terrorism essentially say that counter-terrorism is only possible if you have the kind of intelligence that allows you to target the terrorists," he said. "And the only way you get that intelligence is by being on the ground -- getting information from people like the Afghans or, in the case of Iraq, the Iraqis. "And so you can't do this from a distance or remotely, in the view of virtually all of the experts that I've talked to," he added. The counter-terrorism approach has the support of some lawmakers and reportedly US Vice President Joe Biden. Obama warned on Friday there were no "perfect answers" in Afghanistan, where an increasingly violent insurgency is challenging the Kabul government in the south and east. The US president faces growing doubts in his own party about the war amid rising casualties, public opposition to deploying more troops and a disputed Afghan election plagued by allegations of fraud. Gates, whose advice could be crucial for Obama's decision, has yet to publicly declare his position on sending in more troops to reinforce the US contingent that will reach 68,000 by the end of the year. But he defended the mission, disagreeing with comparisons to the failed Soviet occupation of Afghanistan during the Cold War. Unlike the Soviets who "conducted a war of terror against Afghans," he told CNN's "State of the Union" that "the Afghans continue to see us as their ally and partner." The strategy for Afghanistan unveiled by Obama in March, added Gates, "is the first real strategy we have had for Afghanistan since the early 1980s." Under the previous administration, the United States was focused on Iraq and lacked troops and a comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan, he said, noting that "the reality is, we were fighting a holding action." Asked about calls by some members of Congress to set a deadline for a US withdrawal, Gates warned any such move would be a "strategic mistake." "The reality is, failure in Afghanistan would be a huge setback for the United States," he said. If Obama approves reinforcements for Afghanistan, Gates said additional troops would not arrive until January. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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