2010 will bring Afghan progress, U.S. general says
BY JULIET O'NEILL, CANWEST NEWS SERVICE
DECEMBER 16, 2009 9:56 PM
Photograph by: Chris Wattie, Reuters
OTTAWA — By the time American and Canadian combat forces are withdrawing in July 2011, "we will have reversed Taliban momentum," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, said Wednesday.
He predicted that this time next year there will be hard proof "the insurgency will be defeated" and he spoke of a role for coalition forces in protecting the lives and families of Taliban insurgents who want to "leave the fight" and reintegrate into Afghan life.
"This is not a fight to the death, but a fight for the minds of the Afghan people," he asserted, adding that the people of Afghanistan do not regard coalition forces as occupiers but as protectors and stabilizers.
McChrystal is commander of ISAF, the International Security Assistance Force, comprised of more than 130,000 military personnel from 44 countries, and he commands U.S. Forces in Afghanistan.
He made the prediction of success against the Taliban at a news conference and in a speech to about 500 defence experts, diplomats and government officials at an event organized by the Canadian Conference of Defence Associations Institute during a two-day visit to Ottawa.
Contrary to some other American officials who have publicly urged Canada to prolong at least some parts of its 2,830-member military mission in Afghanistan past July 2011, McChrystal declined to be drawn into that debate, saying it is up to Canada to decide.
The government has said the Canadian mission ends July 2011 and Gen. Walt Natynczyk has told a parliamentary committee the withdrawal will be complete by the end of the year and will include not just combat forces but military personnel who protect provincial reconstruction teams.
McChrystal said that while U.S. President Barack Obama has said U.S. forces will begin withdrawing in July 2011, the pace of that withdrawal is not decided. U.S. forces will soon total more than 90,000 after the arrival of an additional 30,000 troops recently committed by the United States.
"The date of July 2011 to begin the withdrawal of American forces is a decision," he told reporters. "We will begin the withdrawal of American forces. The rate and pace of that withdrawal will be up to national leadership. And I'm sure I'll have a recommendation into that but it will be a decision based upon conditions then."
He said there are not enough forces in Afghanistan now to defeat the Taliban but there will be enough with the extra U.S. troops, additional coalition forces and the continued growth of Afghan security forces.
McChrystal called Canada's contribution to the Afghan campaign over the last eight years "extraordinary." He had been impressed by Canadians' performance in close combat and said Canadian methods of securing stability and a chance for development were a model to other military forces.
His measure of the success of the war in 2011 would be "whether the Afghan people get a chance to shape their own future" and whether they have a chance to earn a living, go to school and live without violent coercion.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
No comments:
Post a Comment