Gates Travels to Kabul for Talks With Leaders, Troops

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

KABUL, Afghanistan, June 4, 2011 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived here today for his final visit to Afghanistan as defense secretary.

The secretary, who retires at the end of the month, will meet with Afghan and coalition leaders and U.S. troops.

“This is principally an opportunity for me to thank the troops and bid them farewell,” Gates said during a news conference aboard his plane before arriving.

The secretary noted that he has many commemorative challenge coins to give to troops he meets. “The plane will be considerably lighter when we leave,” he joked.

Gates discussed with reporters traveling with him the dialogue within the administration on the troop drawdown that will begin next month. He hit back at critics who say that fiscal matters should partially dictate the pace of the U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan.

“I think that once you’ve committed, that success of the mission should override everything else, because the most costly thing of all would be to fail,” he said. But that does not preclude adjustments to the mission or to the strategy, he added.

“Ultimately, the objective has to be success in the mission that has been set forth by the president,” the secretary said, adding that he will use what he learns from the visit as he participates in the Afghan drawdown decision.

“It’s always helpful to go into these discussions with the latest information from the field and some feeling of the ground truth in terms of how things are going,” he said.

President Barack Obama has made the commitment that U.S. forces will begin the drawdown process next month. Afghan forces will begin taking over security from the coalition, and the process will continue to the end of 2014.

“We will begin this process next month, but obviously as we move ahead we have to think about the next year or two in terms of where we are,” Gates said. “The president has been very specific that decisions will be based on conditions on the ground.”

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the NATO commander in Afghanistan, will be an integral element in the deliberations and will make his recommendations to Washington soon. “We have to weigh the impact on our allies of what we decide – we certainly don’t want to precipitate a rush for the exits by our partners,” Gates said.

“By the same token,” he added, “you can’t be oblivious to the growing war weariness at home, and diminishing support in the Congress. So I think these are all things the president will have to weigh and those of us advising him will have to weigh as well.”

NATO to Build on Lessons of Afghanistan for Future

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 2, 2011 – A week after NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen made a firsthand assessment of progress in transferring increased security responsibility to Afghan security forces, the alliance’s supreme allied commander for transformation is focused on building on lessons learned in Afghanistan for the future.

Rasmussen visited Afghanistan last week to reaffirm NATO’s long-term commitment as seven sections of the country, including the city of Herat in western Afghanistan, prepare to transition to Afghan security responsibility July 1. Speaking during an online video blog, Rasmussen called the city “an example of how Afghanistan can start progress toward Afghan leadership.”

Lauding progress made during meetings that included International Security Assistance Force Commander Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and Senior Civilian Representative for Afghanistan Simon Gass, Rasmussen made clear during a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai that NATO won’t turn its back on Afghanistan.

“Those who threaten Afghanistan’s future should be under no illusion,” he said. “NATO is and remains committed to Afghanistan."

Meanwhile, operating at the only U.S.-based NATO command, in Norfolk, Va., French air force Gen. Stephane Abrial, NATO’s supreme allied commander for transformation, emphasized the importance of building on lessons learned by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

“My hope is that we do not lose the lessons we have identified and learned in Afghanistan,” he said. “We need to keep them to prepare the troops for the future, and also to continue developing the know-how [and] the capabilities we need for this type of warfare.”

But Abrial emphasized that NATO forces can’t concentrate only on those lessons, thinking that “the last war we have fought is the same as the future war we are going to be facing.”

“We need to keep an open mind,” he said, keeping prepared to address the full spectrum of challenges from conventional to nonconventional warfare. That concept needs to guide the way the alliance prepares, organizes and equips for the future, he said.

“We need … to make sure that for the future, we can be ready for anything,” Abrial continued. “Who knows what is going to happen tomorrow? … Will there be another crisis somewhere else? Will we be asked to intervene somewhere, and in which form, which fashion?”

What applied to Afghanistan may not apply elsewhere, he warned.

“We cannot say, ‘OK, whatever happens, we will do a new Afghanistan again. No way,” Abrial said. “So don’t forget the important lessons – but don’t concentrate [only] on this type of environment.”

Abrial called the flexibility provided by NATO’s new strategic concept key to ensuring the alliance remains relevant as it faces the future.

“To make sure that we can face any kind of challenge that will arise in the next 10 years, flexibility is absolutely paramount,” he said. “We have to make sure the concept will not be made obsolete when we encounter the first strategic surprise. And if you look at history, military history is just a string of strategic surprises.”

Surprises in the future are certain, Abrial asserted. “The challenge is that we can face the surprise, and be ready to solve the crisis we will face,” he added.

Abrial shared Rasmussen’s commitment to seeing the mission through in Afghanistan, calling it a demonstration of NATO’s unity. As the security transition takes place there, Abrial said, he believes the forces freed up could be reinvested somewhere else, possibly as trainers.

“So my vision is that NATO is on the right track, and that the nations will continue to … make this transition possible, together,” he said.

(This is the third article in a series about how the Defense Department and the military services, as well as NATO, plan to maintain combat effectiveness and readiness as the current operational tempo begins to decline.)

Stavridis Praises Allies’ Afghanistan Efforts

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 30, 2011 – The fight in Afghanistan has become a global effort, with committed partners from nations that include Mongolia, Bulgaria, Tonga and El Salvador, NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe said here today.

“In addition to the 49 countries with troops there, well over 80 countries are contributing financially to develop Afghanistan,” Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis told the House Armed Services Committee.

In addition to contributing resources and capabilities, Stavridis said, allied nations “are in the fight.”

Although U.S. forces in Afghanistan outnumber those of other nations by a 2-to-1 margin, the admiral said, allied nations have had 900 service members killed in action, compared to the U.S. total of about 1,400.

“So they are suffering casualties at a higher rate per capita than we are here in the United States in many instances,” he said.

One of the allies’ specific skills is training.

“If you think about how we're going to succeed in Afghanistan, I believe we will train our way to success,” Stavridis said. “We're beginning a transition this summer that will run through 2014, and I believe the ability to make that transition is dependent on effective Afghan security forces.”

Some 275,000 Afghan security forces are being trained by U.S. forces and by coalition partners who bring discrete skill sets at everything from orienteering to aircraft maintenance, Stavridis said. The training effort, he added, “is an area in which we are encouraging our allies to bring additional forces.” Canada and the Netherlands recently increased the numbers of troops they are committing to the training mission, he said.

Coalition partners also are at work in a command-and-control sense, Stavridis said, noting that Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, has a British deputy commander and a French chief of staff.

“As you look around Afghanistan to the leaders in each regional command area, Kabul is commanded by a Turk,” Stavridis said. “In the far west, we see an Italian in command. In the north we see a German in command, in addition to U.S. commanders in the south and the east.

“The contributions of the allies are noteworthy and part of my cautious optimism for success in Afghanistan,” he added.

Despite economic challenges, European allies have great resources, Stavridis said.

“The [gross domestic product] of Europe is about $14 trillion, very similar to that of the United States, so if you put the United States' GDP and Europe's GDP together, about $28 [trillion] to $30 trillion, which is roughly half of the global GDP.

“We're lucky that our close allies in Europe live in prosperous societies that can contribute to defense,” he added. However, he acknowledged, many allies are not meeting the NATO standard of spending of at least 2 percent of their GDP on defense.

A handful, including the United Kingdom, France, Turkey and Greece and others, are meeting the standard, he said.

But the majority of NATO partners are not meeting the GDP defense-spending standard,” the admiral added.

“So I am worried,” he said.

Because the United States pays a much-higher percentage of GDP for its defense, Stavridis said.

“We need to be emphatic with our European allies that they should spend at least the minimum NATO 2 percent,” he said.

The admiral said he stresses that point with NATO allies.

“I carry that message often, emphatically and very directly, frankly, not only to military counterparts but also to political actors in each of the nations in the alliance,” he said.

A minimum defense spending goal of 2 percent of gross domestic product is very reasonable, Stavridis said, and one that the alliance should be able to support, noting that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates also raise the issue with NATO members.

“We are all leaning forward to make sure our allies do the right thing in this regard,” the admiral said.

The coalition also is dealing with other problems in Afghanistan, which produces 80 to 90 percent of the world's poppy. This is turned into opium, and ultimately into heroin, Stavridis said.

Taliban financing comes from the poppy trade, he added, which provides a funding stream of $100 million to $200 million annually for enemy activity.

The route is marked by corruption and crime as the drugs move from Afghanistan through central Asia, through the the Balkans, and to users in Russia, Europe and, ultimately, the United States, Stavridis said.

A multiagency countertrafficking effort is being established to support the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency as it takes the lead, he said, and the military command contributes surveillance, connectivity and an analytic capability.

“It's a significant challenge, but we're starting to see some impact,” Stavridis said. “In Afghanistan, where we start this supply chain and we see Afghans in the lead but NATO supporting, we have seen a reduction in the production of poppy and, therefore, of opium and heroin, by about 20 percent over the last two years. We're starting down the path.”

In the end, however, gains are necessary on the demand side as well as the supply side and the transit zone.

“There's no silver bullet,” the admiral said. “You kind of have to go at all three of those. We're attacking all three in an interagency way.”

Stavridis Cites Value of Partnerships

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 29, 2011 – Partnership building is an important aspect of operations and training at the U.S. European Command, including operations in Afghanistan and Libya, the command’s top officer said here today.

Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis, commander of Eucom and NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, taking questions about Afghanistan, Libya and other topics.

“Any time the United States can operate in a coalition environment, it’s in our advantage,” Stavridis told the senators. “Afghanistan is a good example, with 49 partner nations.” At Eucom, he added, 51 nations participate in military-to-military relationships.

“Last year, for example, we did 33 major exercises engaging about 50,000 folks. We do a significant amount of training across the spectrum,” the admiral said.

Such partnerships, he said, make a significant difference in available resources, exchange of ideas and geographic access.

“I think partnership building is why there are 45,000 non-U.S. troops today with us in Afghanistan,” fighting alongside 98,000 U.S. troops, Stavridis added. “That’s a significant resource contribution.” Roughly 40 ships are operating in general support of the operation in Libya, he added, and only about 12 are U.S. ships.

Partnerships also promote an exchange of ideas, the admiral said.

“In Libya today, where we have 28 NATO and Arab nations coming together, you have different ways of looking at things,” Stavridis said. “That can, at times, create friction, but I would argue over time it creates better ideas, because no one of us is as smart as all of us thinking and working together.”

Access, the admiral said, is another advantage of partnerships.

“To do an operation like Libya or Afghanistan requires overcoming the tyranny of distance and geography,” he said. “We do that best with allies, because not everywhere is international airspace. Not everywhere are the high seas.”

Echoing the sentiments of Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Stavridis said he’s “cautiously optimistic” about military operations in Afghanistan.

“At any given time, about 80 percent of the 45,000 non-U.S. troops who are in Afghanistan come from Europe,” he said. “At this moment, we have 12,000 U.S. European Command soldiers who are forward deployed, so we very much focus on Afghanistan and try our best to support [Marine Corps] Gen. Jim Mattis and Gen. Dave Petraeus.” Mattis commands U.S. Central Command.

“We have a coalition of 49 troop-contributing nations, the largest coalition in history,” Stavridis said of the effort in Afghanistan. “And it is making measurable progress in the transition to Afghan-led security operations.”

In operations against Libya, Stavridis said, he wears two hats. As Eucom commander, he explained, he supports lead combatant commander Army Gen. Carter F. Ham of U.S. Africa Command.

Ham, Stavridis said, “is the principal U.S. operator and has been largely responsible for leading the coalition that has been in operation for several weeks. My role there is support and logistics and moving troops forward for him.”

As NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe, the admiral said he effectively is the alliance’s operations officer.

“In that regard, we are, in fact, taking this mission,” Stavridis said. “We have already taken the arms embargo mission as of several days ago, we’ve taken the no-fly zone, and now we are prepared over the next 24 to 48 hours to take over protecting the population.”

All those tasks, he said, stem directly from U.N Security Council resolutions.

“We are in the process of transitioning to a NATO-led operation from this coalition,” he added.

In response to a question about how coalition forces would react if Moammar Gadhafi’s forces laid down their arms, the admiral said the process would begin in the field.

“In the last five weeks of this operation,” Stavridis said, “I’ve heard personally at least five different cease-fires announced by Gadhafi’s forces, none of which have been true. So it would have to begin with an on-the-ground assessment.”

This would be backed up by higher-level intelligence assessments, and that data would flow into the Joint Task Force commander for NATO, Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard of the Canadian air force, whose headquarters is in Naples, Italy, Stavridis said.

“It would be assessed there in an operational context, moved up to my headquarters in Mons, Belgium, where SHAPE -- the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe -- would put a strategic view on it,” he added.

The information would then go to the North Atlantic Council -- NATO’s political arm -- which would decide whether a shift in direction would take place, he said.

If the cease-fire were genuine, Stavridis added, the discussion would have to go to another level.

“It would be the United Nations,” he said, “since the authority for NATO to participate in this operation is under United Nations Security Council resolutions 1970 and 1973.”

If NATO assessed that conditions on the ground were changing, he said, “I think there would be, depending on the situation, a probable pause in activity while it was evaluated at a political level as to further steps.”

In considering the future of Libya, the admiral said he could see a “wide range of possibilities out ahead of us that run from a static stalemate” to a cracking of the Gadhafi regime.

“If we work all the elements of power, I think we have a more than reasonable chance of Gadhafi leaving, because the entire international community is arrayed against him," Stavridis told the senators.

Noting that representatives of 40 nations are gathered in London today to discuss Libya, Stavridis evoked the words of Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in a weekend television interview.

“[Gadhafi] probably doesn’t need to be hanging any new pictures,” the admiral said.

NATO, Afghan Forces Hold Advantage, Petraeus Says

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 23, 2011 – NATO and Afghan forces hold the advantage over insurgents as spring and summer approach, the commander of coalition and U.S. forces in Afghanistan said in London today.

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, en route back to Afghanistan after congressional testimony here, told an audience at the Royal United Services Institute that Taliban fighters displaced over the last year from long-held areas in Afghanistan have lost significant capability.

“The infrastructure, the contacts, the relationships, the command-and-control facilities, … [the Taliban lack] all of this that they have established, in some cases, over a period of decades,” the general said. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force has recovered four times as many weapons and explosives caches over the past several months than in the same period a year ago, he added, “because we’re in areas where they had to leave behind a great deal.”

Afghan and ISAF forces also have between 100,000 and 120,000 more pairs of boots on the ground than they did a year ago, the general said, while insurgents “will not come at us, we think, in such large attacks as they have in the past” when the harsh Afghan winters have ended.

Petraeus said that as the transition to Afghan-led security responsibility gets under way according to the plan Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced yesterday, ISAF is working to support his efforts to extend governance.

Coalition strategy in Afghanistan is increasingly focused on counterinsurgency’s “build” phase, though needed gains remain in the “clear” and “hold” phases, Petraeus said.

ISAF is working to solidify and expand security gains in central Afghanistan while increasing its defense in depth along the border with Pakistan, the general said.

“We have the best coordination, I think, [that] we’ve ever had between ISAF, the Pakistani army and Afghan forces,” he said.

Pakistani efforts against al-Qaida in northern Waziristan has put “enormous pressure on them … [and] commenced the dismantlement, if you will, of that organization and to force its most senior leaders to go even further underground than they already were,” he added.

The pressure on al-Qaida is evident in the terror organization’s delayed response to world events, Petraeus said. “You only have to look at how, typically, untimely statements by Osama bin Laden are when there are fast-paced events ongoing in the Middle East,” he explained. ISAF, Pakistani and Afghan forces must keep pressure on against al-Qaida, the Taliban and other terrorist networks, Petraeus said.

“In terms of what can lead to a change, I think that developments inside Afghanistan may be the most important lever,” he said. Widespread reintegration of former insurgents into Afghan society would lead to a situation where Taliban leaders “would call up on their cellphone, and no one answers,” he said.

Reintegration has achieved some “modest reductions” already, Petraeus said, and ISAF strategy acknowledges “you can’t kill or capture your way out of an insurgency.”

“With respect to reconciliation and reintegration, there is no question about the seriousness of the Afghan government or President Karzai about this,” he said, noting peace councils devoted to reintegrating former Taliban members have been established in most of Afghanistan’s provinces.

Petraeus said Afghan leaders and international opinion support “constructive discussions that could lead to reconciliation of substantial parts of the organizations that are causing such problems for Afghanistan and the Afghan people.”

Afghan Institutions Making Strides, Petraeus Says

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 18, 2011 – Afghanistan’s government and other societal institutions will determine the country’s long-term stability, the commander of NATO and U.S. forces there said today.

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus capped a week of congressional testimony and meetings with a question-and-answer session at the Newseum here focusing on Afghanistan’s future.

There’s only one way to achieve the core objective of eliminating terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan, Petraeus said, and that’s helping that nation develop the capability to secure and govern itself to “an adequate degree.”

“We’re not trying to turn the country into Switzerland in 10 years or less,” the general added.

NATO’s International Security Assistance Force has a comprehensive civil-military counterinsurgency campaign under way in Afghanistan to spur needed development, Petraeus said, but long-term stability must rest on an Afghan framework.

Senior ministers in the Afghan government are “by and large … very impressive,” he said, noting that most are Western-educated and technologically sophisticated by regional standards, and many are reformers.

The political structure in Afghanistan has significant constraints, Petraeus said, adding that while the nation’s constitution gives the executive branch a lot of power, President Hamid Karzai is not as all-powerful as might be thought.

“He [constantly has] to shore up his political foundation, which consists of considerations for both ethnic and sectarian dynamics in the country,” he said.

The major challenges facing the Afghan government are the human capital in the institutions themselves, and the criminal networks challenging them, the general said.

Afghanistan already was one of the world’s poorest countries before it suffered 30 years of war, Petraeus said, and “the human capital, of course, left the country.”

A number of educated Afghans have returned, he said, but “not enough to populate these large institutions, these large ministries, to the extent necessary.”

Increasing that human capital is “the key to building institutions to which we can transition very important tasks for the Afghan people,” the general said.

The second challenge to effective Afghan government, Petraeus said, is what he and Karzai call “criminal patronage networks.”

“These are individuals who are crooks,” Petraeus said. “They are breaking the law, they enjoy a degree of political protection … and they are parts of networks.”

An example is the former Afghan surgeon general who is the subject of a joint Afghan-ISAF investigation, he said.

The man was found to be stealing drugs, selling them and replacing them with counterfeits, the general said.

“As this was laid out for [Karzai] … he fired him on the spot,” Petraeus said. “He then fired the chain of command of the national military hospital.”

There are other, similar cases pending that will be “big tests,” he added.

Afghan army and police forces also are essential to their country’s long-term self-sufficiency, the general said, and literacy, ethnic balance and “a culture of service” are on the rise among those institutions.

Military recruiting in southern districts has increased considerably, Petraeus said, partly reflecting improved security in much of that region.

“Young men can actually raise their hand, join the military, and not end up with their families killed or kidnapped or intimidated,” he said.

ISAF is past the point of simply training Afghan infantry battalions, the general said.

“This is about building branch schools and centers … [and] so called-enablers,” he explained. “It’s about building logistics, maintenance, artillery, armor, aviation -– fixed-wing and rotary-wing –- military intelligence, military police [and] transportation.”

Until Afghan forces have all of those capabilities, Petraeus said, they cannot sustain and support themselves.

“That’s the focus of this year and next year,” he said.

ISAF forces are also “finally biting the bullet and doing something we probably should have done years ago … help with literacy training for [Afghan] soldiers and police,” the general said.

Now, Afghan recruits get first-grade level literacy training with their basic military or police training, and more literacy instruction as they become more senior, Petraeus said.

The Afghan national military academy’s last class, he said, had four applicants for every slot.

“And by the way, they did the admissions process this year by numbers, not by names, so there could be no linkage” with tribe or other connection, the general said.

The number of Afghan-run schools and markets is rising, Petraeus said, which is essential for the nation’s developing economy.

“Clearly, [Afghanistan’s government must also] begin the process of exploiting, for the Afghan people, the trillions of dollars in minerals that are in the ground in Afghanistan,” he said.

The country will need to develop “the extractive technology, human capital, value chain, transportation chain and so forth –- but that can come over time,” the general said.

The international community will economically support Afghanistan in some capacity even beyond 2014’s security transfer, Petraeus said, but “in a very different character, and certainly at lower levels, than we are providing right now.”

Petraeus: Afghan Transition Will Have Long-term Impact

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2011 – As the transition approaches for Afghan forces to begin taking responsibility for security in their country, actions in the coming months will have consequences for years to come, the commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan said here today.

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus told the House Armed Services Committee that each step in the process -- set to culminate with Afghan forces having the security lead throughout the country by the end of 2014 -- must be closely coordinated and irrevocable.

“We’ll get one shot at transition, and we need to get it right,” he said.

The coalition has increased its efforts to enable the Afghan government’s work to improve governance, economic development and the provision of basic services, Petraeus said.

“These are essential elements of the effort to shift delivery of basic services from provincial reconstruction teams and international organizations to Afghan government elements,” he explained.

Afghan-led reintegration of reconcilable insurgents must be an important element of the strategy, Petraeus said, noting that the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force is assisting Afghan government initiatives, including the recently established Afghan high peace council and provincial reintegration councils.

“Indeed, we recognize that we and our Afghan partners cannot just kill or capture our way out of the insurgency in Afghanistan,” the general said. “In fact, some 700 former Taliban have now officially reintegrated with Afghan authorities, and some 2,000 more are in various stages of the reintegration process.”

All of these efforts are part of a comprehensive civil-military approach, he explained, in which ISAF coordinates with international organizations, diplomatic missions in Afghanistan, and the Afghan government and security forces.

“We have also sought to ensure that we minimize loss of innocent civilian life in the course of our operations,” he added.

A recent United Nations study found that civilian casualties resulting from ISAF actions decreased by more than 20 percent in 2010, though the number of coalition forces increased by more than 100,000, Petraeus noted. But despite the reduction in civilian casualties, he said, several tragic incidents in recent weeks prompted him to order a review of use of force at all levels of ISAF and among attack helicopter air crews.

“I also reemphasized instructions on reducing damage to infrastructure and property to an absolute minimum,” he said. “Counterinsurgents cannot succeed if they harm the people they are striving to protect.”

Afghan President Hamid Karzai will announce next week the first locations where security responsibility will transition to Afghan lead, Petraeus said. In keeping with the principles adopted by NATO’s North Atlantic Council, he added, the pace of transition will be determined by conditions on the ground.

“According to the NATO principles, transition will see our forces thinning out, not just handing off,” he said, telling the lawmakers that some forces freed up by transition will be reassigned to other locations in Afghanistan or to training Afghan army and police forces.

“Similar processes are also taking place as we commence transition of certain training and institutional functions from ISAF trainers to their Afghan counterparts,” he said.

As the security transition unfolds, he said, ISAF must focus not just on the year ahead, but on the goal of full security responsibility transfer by the end of 2014.

“Indeed, we need to ensure that we take a sufficiently long view … [and] that our actions in the months ahead enable long-term achievement in the years ahead,” Petraeus said.

ISAF has refined its campaign plan to do just that, and has begun to look beyond 2014 to establishing U.S. and NATO strategic partnerships with Afghanistan, he said.

“All of this is enormously reassuring to our Afghan partners, and of considerable concern to the Taliban,” he said. An enduring commitment by the international community to Afghanistan, he added, is important to insurgents’ recognition that reconciliation, rather than continued fighting, should be their goal.

Petraeus said four funding issues are key to sustaining progress in Afghanistan.

“I am concerned that levels of funding for our State Department and [U.S. Agency for International Development] partners will not sufficiently enable them to build on the hard-fought security achievements of our men and women in uniform,” he said, adding that inadequate funding for civilian efforts in Afghanistan could jeopardize the overall mission.

“I offer that assessment noting we have just completed a joint civil-military campaign plan between U.S. Forces Afghanistan and the U.S. embassy.”

Second, Petraeus said, he deeply appreciates funding for additional capabilities such as surveillance assets and all-terrain mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles for coalition forces. Commanders Emergency Response Program and reintegration program funding have likewise been instrumental to the overall counterinsurgency effort, he said.

Third, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, he said, are the largest donors to Afghanistan after the United States, and have been critical to construction of the Ring Road and the Uzbek-Afghan railroad.

“We need these critical enabling institutions, and further U.S. support for them will ensure that they’re able to continue to contribute as significantly as they have in the past,” he said.

Finally, funding for development of Afghan security forces and their resulting gains in quantity, quality and capability is “essential to the process of transition,” Petraeus said.

“Our objectives in Afghanistan and in the region are of vital importance,” he said. “We will continue to make adjustments, in close consultation with our Afghan and international counterparts, as the situation evolves.”

Petraeus: Afghan Transition Will Have Long-term Impact

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2011 – As the transition approaches for Afghan forces to begin taking responsibility for security in their country, actions in the coming months will have consequences for years to come, the commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan said here today.

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus told the House Armed Services Committee that each step in the process -- set to culminate with Afghan forces having the security lead throughout the country by the end of 2014 -- must be closely coordinated and irrevocable.

“We’ll get one shot at transition, and we need to get it right,” he said.

The coalition has increased its efforts to enable the Afghan government’s work to improve governance, economic development and the provision of basic services, Petraeus said.

“These are essential elements of the effort to shift delivery of basic services from provincial reconstruction teams and international organizations to Afghan government elements,” he explained.

Afghan-led reintegration of reconcilable insurgents must be an important element of the strategy, Petraeus said, noting that the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force is assisting Afghan government initiatives, including the recently established Afghan high peace council and provincial reintegration councils.

“Indeed, we recognize that we and our Afghan partners cannot just kill or capture our way out of the insurgency in Afghanistan,” the general said. “In fact, some 700 former Taliban have now officially reintegrated with Afghan authorities, and some 2,000 more are in various stages of the reintegration process.”

All of these efforts are part of a comprehensive civil-military approach, he explained, in which ISAF coordinates with international organizations, diplomatic missions in Afghanistan, and the Afghan government and security forces.

“We have also sought to ensure that we minimize loss of innocent civilian life in the course of our operations,” he added.

A recent United Nations study found that civilian casualties resulting from ISAF actions decreased by more than 20 percent in 2010, though the number of coalition forces increased by more than 100,000, Petraeus noted. But despite the reduction in civilian casualties, he said, several tragic incidents in recent weeks prompted him to order a review of use of force at all levels of ISAF and among attack helicopter air crews.

“I also reemphasized instructions on reducing damage to infrastructure and property to an absolute minimum,” he said. “Counterinsurgents cannot succeed if they harm the people they are striving to protect.”

Afghan President Hamid Karzai will announce next week the first locations where security responsibility will transition to Afghan lead, Petraeus said. In keeping with the principles adopted by NATO’s North Atlantic Council, he added, the pace of transition will be determined by conditions on the ground.

“According to the NATO principles, transition will see our forces thinning out, not just handing off,” he said, telling the lawmakers that some forces freed up by transition will be reassigned to other locations in Afghanistan or to training Afghan army and police forces.

“Similar processes are also taking place as we commence transition of certain training and institutional functions from ISAF trainers to their Afghan counterparts,” he said.

As the security transition unfolds, he said, ISAF must focus not just on the year ahead, but on the goal of full security responsibility transfer by the end of 2014.

“Indeed, we need to ensure that we take a sufficiently long view … [and] that our actions in the months ahead enable long-term achievement in the years ahead,” Petraeus said.

ISAF has refined its campaign plan to do just that, and has begun to look beyond 2014 to establishing U.S. and NATO strategic partnerships with Afghanistan, he said.

“All of this is enormously reassuring to our Afghan partners, and of considerable concern to the Taliban,” he said. An enduring commitment by the international community to Afghanistan, he added, is important to insurgents’ recognition that reconciliation, rather than continued fighting, should be their goal.

Petraeus said four funding issues are key to sustaining progress in Afghanistan.

“I am concerned that levels of funding for our State Department and [U.S. Agency for International Development] partners will not sufficiently enable them to build on the hard-fought security achievements of our men and women in uniform,” he said, adding that inadequate funding for civilian efforts in Afghanistan could jeopardize the overall mission.

“I offer that assessment noting we have just completed a joint civil-military campaign plan between U.S. Forces Afghanistan and the U.S. embassy.”

Second, Petraeus said, he deeply appreciates funding for additional capabilities such as surveillance assets and all-terrain mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles for coalition forces. Commanders Emergency Response Program and reintegration program funding have likewise been instrumental to the overall counterinsurgency effort, he said.

Third, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, he said, are the largest donors to Afghanistan after the United States, and have been critical to construction of the Ring Road and the Uzbek-Afghan railroad.

“We need these critical enabling institutions, and further U.S. support for them will ensure that they’re able to continue to contribute as significantly as they have in the past,” he said.

Finally, funding for development of Afghan security forces and their resulting gains in quantity, quality and capability is “essential to the process of transition,” Petraeus said.

“Our objectives in Afghanistan and in the region are of vital importance,” he said. “We will continue to make adjustments, in close consultation with our Afghan and international counterparts, as the situation evolves.”

Coalition Has Momentum in Afghanistan, Petraeus Says

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 15, 2011 – The Taliban’s momentum has been reversed in most areas of Afghanistan, but the progress achieved there is fragile and reversible, the commander of NATO and U.S. forces said here today.

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee that much dangerous work remains ahead for coalition and Afghan government forces in the country.

“Nonetheless, the hard-fought achievements in 2010 and early 2011 have enabled the joint Afghan-NATO transition board to recommend initiation this spring of transition to Afghan lead in several provinces,” he said. The progress also will factor into his recommendations in drawing down the number of U.S. forces in the country, now at around 100,000, the general added.

The progress, Petraeus said, has put the NATO-led effort on the path to turn over security responsibility for the country to Afghan forces by 2014.

The effort in Afghanistan is more than simply a military campaign, Petraeus told the senators. Support and resources the United States and the 47 other troop-contributing countries have provided has allowed the civil-military campaign to work, he said.

And, Petraeus noted, the Afghans themselves are shouldering an increasingly larger share of the defense burden.

“More than 87,000 additional NATO ISAF troopers and 1,000 additional civilians have been added to the effort in Afghanistan since the beginning of 2009,” the general said. “In Afghanistan, security forces have grown by over 122,000 in that time as well.”

Getting the inputs right has enabled all forces to conduct the comprehensive campaign, he said.

“Our core objective is, of course, ensuring that Afghanistan does not once again become a sanctuary for al-Qaida,” Petraeus told the panel. “Achieving that objective requires that we help Afghanistan develop sufficient capabilities to secure and govern itself, and that effort requires the execution of the comprehensive civil-military effort on which we are now embarked.”

The effort has enabled a stepped-up tempo of precise, intelligence-driven operations to capture or kill insurgent leaders, the general said.

“In a typical 90-day period, in fact, precision operations by U.S. special mission units and their Afghan partners alone kill or capture some 360 targeted insurgent leaders,” Petraeus said. “Moreover, intelligence-driven operations are now coordinated with senior officers of the relevant Afghan ministries, and virtually all include highly trained Afghan soldiers or police, with some Afghan elements now in the lead on these operations.”

Combined ISAF-Afghan operations have cleared the Taliban from important safe havens, and the forces are holding these areas, allowing governance and development to take root, Petraeus noted.

“ISAF and Afghan troopers have, for example, cleared such critical areas as the districts west of Kandahar city that were the birthplace of the Taliban movement, as well as important districts of Helmand province,” he said.

These operations have resulted in the gradual development of local governance and economic revival in the growing security bubbles, the general said, pointing out that in Marja in Helmand province -– once a Taliban stronghold –- 75 percent of registered voters cast ballots in recent city elections.

“As a result of improvements in the security situation there,” Petraeus said, “the markets -- which once sold weapons, explosives and illegal narcotics -- now feature over 1,500 shops selling food, clothes and household goods.”

Safe havens in Pakistan also are receiving attention, as ISAF has troops in place to interdict these corridors, the general told the senators, and ISAF and Afghan troops are cooperating with Pakistani forces across the border to trap Taliban forces between this hammer and anvil.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai will announce which provinces will transition to full Afghan control next week, Petraeus said. “In keeping with the principles adopted by [NATO’s] North Atlantic Council to guide transition,” he said, “the shifting of responsibility from ISAF to Afghan forces will be conducted at a pace determined by conditions on the ground with assessments provided from the bottom up so that those at operational-command level in Afghanistan can plan the resulting battlefield geometry adjustments with our Afghan partners.”

The transition, he continued, will allow NATO to take some troops out of the country, and will enable a bulk-up of troops in other areas.

“Similar processes are also taking place as we commence transition of certain training and institutional functions from ISAF trainers to their Afghan counterparts,” Petraeus said.

It’s important to ensure the transition process is irreversible, the general said.

“As the ambassadors of several ISAF countries emphasized at one recent NATO meeting,” he said, “we’ll get one shot at transition, and we need to get it right.”

Since the surge of forces into Afghanistan reached its peak eight months ago, the progress is undeniable, Petraeus told the panel. The Taliban have lost safe havens, many insurgent leaders have been killed or captured, and hundreds of reconcilable mid-level leaders and fighters have been reintegrated into Afghan society, he said.

Meanwhile, Petraeus added, Afghan forces have grown in numbers and capabilities, and security improvements have meant real progress in governance and the economy.

“None of this has been easy,” the general said. “The progress achieved has entailed hard fighting and considerable sacrifice. There have been tough losses along the way, and there have been setbacks as well as successes. Indeed, the experience has been akin to that of a roller coaster ride. The trajectory has generally been upward since last summer, but there certainly have been significant bumps and difficult reverses at various points.”

The Taliban will try to regain momentum this spring, Petraeus said.

“We believe that we will be able to build on the momentum achieved in 2010, though that clearly will entail additional tough fighting,” he added.

Local Police Effort Shows Innovation, Petraeus Says

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 15, 2011 – The Afghan Local Police program is one example of the innovative policies helping with the counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee today.

The commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force called the initiative “arguably the most critical element in our effort to help Afghanistan develop the capability to secure itself.”

The program is, in essence, a community watch, with local residents armed with assault rifles providing security under the control of their district police chief, Petraeus explained. The local community council nominates the men, and they are vetted by the Afghan intelligence service. Afghan police and U.S. Special Forces soldiers train and mentor the units.

“The initiative does more than just allow the arming of local forces and the conduct of limited defensive missions,” the general said. “Through the way each unit is established, this program mobilizes communities in self-defense against those who would undermine security in their areas. For that reason, the growth of these elements is of particular concern to the Taliban, whose ability to intimidate the population is limited considerably by it.”

Some 70 districts are identified for Afghan Local Police elements, with each district’s authorization averaging some 300 members. So far, 27 district local police elements have been validated for full operations, while the other 43 are in various stages of being established, the general said.

“This program has emerged as so important that I have put a conventional U.S. infantry battalion under the operational control of our Special Operations Command in Afghanistan to augment our Special Forces and increase our ability to support the program’s expansion,” Petraeus said. The conventional battalion is from 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Riley, Kan.

While there has been significant progress in training security forces in Afghanistan over the past year, the quality can be uneven, Petraeus told the senators. “The train-and-equip mission is, in fact, a huge undertaking, and there is nothing easy about it,” he said. “However, the past year alone has seen Afghan forces grow by over one-third, adding some 70,000 soldiers and police.”

The forces have grown not only in number, but also in capability, Petraeus said.

“Investments in leader development, literacy, marksmanship and institutions have yielded significant dividends,” he said. “In fact, in the hard fighting west of Kandahar in late 2010, Afghan forces comprised some 60 percent of the overall force, and they fought with skill and courage.”

Gates, Karzai Discuss Civilian Casualties, Drawdown

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 7, 2011 – Civilian casualties and the impending drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan highlighted a discussion here today between Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Gates and Karzai met at the presidential palace and then participated in a joint news conference.

Welcoming Gates for his 13th visit to Afghanistan as defense secretary, Karzai said the secretary is a “highly respected” U.S. Cabinet member, a great friend of Afghanistan, and an important element of the two nations’ growing partnership.

The president said he and the secretary discussed many issues: training Afghan security forces, the strategic partnership between the two countries, and the start of transitioning security responsibility in his country to his country’s forces.

“Of course, civilian casualties was one of the issues we discussed,” Karzai said.

NATO helicopter crews killed nine Afghan boys in a March 1 incident. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force issued a statement March 2 accepting responsibility and apologizing for the deaths.

“The incident occurred following insurgent rocket attacks on [Forward Operating Base] Blessing,” the statement said. “Coalition forces returned fire at the assessed point of origin with indirect and aerial fire. Regrettably, there appears to have been an error in the hand-off between identifying the location of the insurgents and the attack helicopters that carried out subsequent operations.”

The statement included a personal apology from Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, ISAF commander.

Gates today said he, too, apologized for the deaths.

“This breaks our heart,” the secretary said, terming the deaths not only a tragic loss to their families, but also a setback to U.S.-Afghan relations.

“We have been working extremely hard … to avoid civilian casualties,” Gates said, adding that even including the boys’ deaths, coalition forces have reduced civilian deaths over the last couple of years.

Gates said he personally apologized to Karzai. “I know these tragedies weigh heavily on his heart and create problems for him as the leader and protector of the Afghan people,” he added.

The two nations must continue working to strengthen the “significant security gains” that make Afghanistan increasingly safer for all of its citizens, Gates said.

“Tonight President Karzai and I had a very productive discussion about how to maintain this momentum, as we look forward to beginning the formal transition to Afghan security lead this summer,” he said.

Gates said when he last visited Afghanistan in December, he found coalition and Afghan forces’ gains against insurgents had exceeded his expectations, and from what he’s seen so far on this trip, that progress continues.

“They have not let up pressure on the enemy at all this winter,” he said. “In fact, we are conducting a record number of operations.”

The secretary said those ISAF-Afghan operations are expanding security zones in the east around Kabul and Jalalabad, freeing population centers and commerce routes from insurgent disruption.

“As a result, commerce has grown and distant provinces are increasingly connected to major marketplaces,” Gates said, noting similar results can be seen in Afghanistan’s south.

“A semblance of normalcy is now beginning to return to local populations, now free of [Taliban] threat,” he said.

Ultimately, coalition and Afghan forces aim to link security zones around Helmand and Kandahar in the south and Kabul in the east, the secretary said.

“Because of the shared sacrifices of Afghan and coalition forces,” he said, “we are now closer than ever to President Karzai’s goal of building Afghan national security forces that can take the lead in their nation’s security.”

As Karzai’s government plans for that transition, Gates said, the coalition is examining how best to redistribute forces when the security transfer process begins.

“In my view, we will be well-positioned to begin drawing down some U.S. and coalition forces this July, even if we redeploy others to different areas of the country,” he said.

“We are not leaving Afghanistan this summer,” the secretary stressed. “Come September, October and beyond, there will still be substantial numbers of coalition forces here, still partnering with Afghans and still maintaining unrelenting pressure on our enemy.”

Gates Arrives in Afghanistan to Assess Progress

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 7, 2011 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived here today to visit troops, meet with President Hamid Karzai and talk with NATO military leaders about progress made toward transitioning security responsibility to Afghan forces, set to start in July.

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said Gates will visit areas in regional commands South and East, where he will meet with troops and assess progress on the ground.

Gates has settled into a regular rhythm of Afghanistan visits, averaging a trip each quarter, Morrell said.

“Frequent, regular visits provide him with good measuring sticks to determine how rapidly progress is being made,” Morrell said, noting that the secretary has repeatedly said visiting forces in the field and getting their assessment of conditions is the most important part of his trips.

Those on-the-ground assessments have been positive over the last few visits, Morrell said, with troops and leaders who are “taking on the Taliban” expressing confidence in their Afghan counterparts and reporting improved security conditions in former Taliban-controlled areas.

Gates will meet in a long one-on-one session with Karzai, as he has done on all but one previous trip, when the Afghan president was out of the country, Morrell said.

Karzai’s government has been working to prepare for the security transition to Afghan forces, set to start in July and conclude in 2014, the press secretary said. He added that Karzai is expected to announce this month which areas will be the first to transition.

More work remains to be done, however, before any decisions are made about withdrawing U.S. troops, Morrell said.

“There are more talks to take place and more work to be done once [Gates] is home,” Morrell said. “This trip will inform decisions to be made in the coming weeks and months.”

While in Afghanistan, the secretary will also meet with U.S. Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry and the two top NATO commanders in Afghanistan, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, International Security Assistance Force commander, and Army Lt. Gen. David M. Rodriguez, deputy ISAF commander.

Later in the week, the secretary is scheduled to travel to Stuttgart, Germany, for the U.S. Africa Command change of command from Army Gen. William E. “Kip” Ward, who is retiring, to Army Gen. Carter F. Ham.

Gates will then travel to Brussels, Belgium, for meetings with NATO defense ministers.