Military Brass: U.S. Running Out of Time in Afghanistan

Sept. 10, 2008 — -- The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff warns that the United States is "running out of time" in Afghanistan and that without closer cooperation with Pakistan to eliminate the Taliban's safe havens along its common border, "the enemy will only keep coming."

Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, Adm. Mike Mullen also restated his concern that the military effort in Afghanistan cannot succeed alone without more assistance from other agencies of the U.S. government in order to help develop the political institutions and economic stability needed to fight the Taliban.

"Afghanistan doesn't just need more "boots on the ground," Mullen said. "We can't kill our way to victory, and no armed force anywhere -- no matter how good -- can deliver these keys alone. It requires teamwork and cooperation."

Mullen cautioned, "I'm not convinced we're winning it in Afghanistan. I am convinced we can."

Mullen confirmed that Gen. David Petraeus' recommendation to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq early next year by 8,000 troops was "a compromise solution."

But he said it would be wrong to suggest that the need for more American troops in Afghanistan had anything to do with military commanders recommending additional troop drawdown's in Iraq.

Mullen called Iraq and Afghanistan "two different fights" and said the risks and needs of each war were assessed separately.

By not replacing a Marine battalion and an Army combat brigade in Iraq, the Pentagon will be able to send 5,000 additional troops to Afghanistan.

Mullen called the troop shift to Afghanistan "a good start" even though it only meets half the need military commanders there have said they need. Mullen, however, told Congress today that he judged "the risk of not sending them too great a risk to ignore."

The Taliban and al Qaeda have grown bolder in launching "ever-more sophisticated -- even infantry-like -- attacks against fixed coalition positions" from their safe havens in Pakistan, Mullen testified.

While U.S. forces can "hunt down and kill extremists as they cross over the border from Pakistan," Mullen warned "the enemy will keep on coming" unless the United States improves its cooperation with Pakistan to eliminate the safe havens along the border with Afghanistan.