ANALYSIS: U.S. Commanders Want More Troops as Afghan Withdrawal Date Nears

March 14, 2011— -- Field commanders in Afghanistan are asking for more troops, ABC News has learned. Some are openly challenging the wisdom of withdrawing any U.S. forces by the July 11 date set by the administration. A senior official tells ABC that a substantial reduction is now "unlikely."

President Obama agreed to send an additional 30,000 troops in December 2009. The number was widely seen as a "cap," but since that time another 1,400 Marines have been sent to the war zone and 700 or so support troops have added to the total number.

It's possible, says one source, that after the July withdrawal date there will still be more troops in Afghanistan than the president authorized in 2009.

The Obama administration and the Department of Defense have repeatedly said that although the withdrawal of U.S. troops will start in July the numbers will be determined by the "situation on the ground."

Unless there is what our sources call a "game changer," the situation on the ground won't permit "a significant loss of combat power."

U.S. and NATO sources tell us that although there have been positive gains in the south, in Helmand and Kandahar, the progress is considered "fragile" and the July time frame is right in the middle of the fighting season when the conditions will be at their worst.

Coalition forces have been targeting insurgent leaders all winter, taking territory and destroying weapons. But they expect hard fighting when the weather improves and the vegetation in key river valleys gives cover to enemy fighters.

"I think they will be back and hit hard," said one major who will be taking over a key section of territory west of Kandahar, the traditional home of the Taliban. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that reductions in the numbers of soldiers in the south is "unlikely."

Regional Command East has revised what is now considered standard counter-insurgency tactics. They've withdrawn from strategic combat posts in the mountain valleys to concentrate on larger population centers or "key terrain districts."

Says one source, "COIN (counter insurgency) isn't working up there. The locals don't want us. They don't want anyone there. They want to be left alone."