Washington, September 16: The chairman of the US joint chief of staff has warned that the Afghan government’s lack of credibility poses a serious threat to US goals in the country.
President Barack Obama’s top military adviser to the Afghan war strategy, Admiral Michael Mullen, said on Tuesday that the issue of Kabul’s weak legitimacy among Afghans is as serious as the Taliban.
Mullen who has been re-nominated by Obama to another two-year term was testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, amid widening divisions over a troop surge in Afghanistan.
The nation’s top military officer also called for the deployment of additional military trainers along with more combat troops from the United States and its NATO partners, to counter the growing insurgency in Afghanistan.
“A properly resourced counterinsurgency probably needs more forces,” Mullen told congress without specifying the ratio of combat troops to training forces.
He however estimated that NATO contributions would not be large. Mullen also called for patience with US efforts.
The American public and Congress are becoming more critical of the Afghan war, as the number of US fatalities since the 2001 invasion rose to a record high of 250 in 2009, making it the deadliest year for US forces in Afghanistan.
However, despite widespread opposition to the war, the US has already doubled its troops to Afghanistan to 62,000 since the beginning of this year.
The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 allegedly to destroy the militancy and arrest its leaders, including Osama bin Laden, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in the United States.
The operation was labeled ‘the war against terror’, but has only lead to growing terror and insecurity in the conflict-torn country.
—–Agencies