United States Senate Committee on Armed Services discusses future of Afghanistan during hearing

Chairman of the Committee Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) began by talking about two recently published reports drafted by the Afghanistan Study Group and the Atlantic Council which highlight widespread and growing instability in Afghanistan. According to Levin, the Afghanistan Study Group report finds that since 2002, violence, insecurity, and opium production have "risen dramatically." He said that the Atlantic Council report states, "Make no mistake, NATO is not winning in Afghanistan." Levin said that despite these reports, the Bush administration continues to "paint a rosy picture" of the situation in Afghanistan and that he hopes the administration will interpret the reports as a signal of the "urgent need to reassess its approach" there.

Member of the committee Senator John Warner (R-VA) spoke briefly saying that the "credibility of NATO is at stake" in the ongoing fight in Afghanistan. He said that a failure in Afghanistan would boost extremist movements and called for Europe to contribute more to the war. He said that some Europeans have been unwilling to commit more troops to Afghanistan and said that terrorist attacks in Europe such as those in London and Madrid prove that Europeans have an interest in winning in Afghanistan.

James Shinn, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs gave testimony before the committee where he stated that he agrees with many of the conclusions reached by the Afghanistan Study Group and the Atlantic Council in their reports. He said that the approach taken in Afghanistan needs to be "fundamentally altered" but he did say that NATO is winning "slowly and painfully." According to him, NATO is successful in every battle against Taliban forces but the failure to win the war is caused by the inability to eliminate the resurgence of those forces. He cited widespread corruption within the Afghan National Police (ANP) as a major obstacle preventing Afghan people from trusting the security officials. He also said that the U.S. does not bare sole responsibility in Afghanistan but the United Nations, Europe, NATO, and Afghanistan itself must all contribute to secure the country.

Richard Boucher, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, commented mostly on positive aspects of the conflict. He said that there is not yet success in Afghanistan, but that many achievements have been made there. According to him, 5 million Afghan children are enrolled in school this year—up from 900,000 children in 2001. He said that Afghans are all talking about the number of internet cafes and gas stations springing up off a road that the U.S. built. He also said that economic growth is on the rise and described last year's estimated growth of 13% as "remarkably high." But he did say that narcotics trafficking, weak government, and corruption remain "endemic."