Afghanistan Needs Continued American Commitment, Says Official

Philip Bunnell - Talk Radio News Service

Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke told the House Appropriations Committee Wednesday that if the United States is going have a successful run in Afghanistan, its commitment and investment must continue unwavered. 

Holbrooke said strengthening the Afghan government and weeding out corruption is critical if President Obama’s war strategy is to succeed. 

“The steps we’ve taken so far to fight corruption is a start,” said Holbrooke, citing the multiple recent arrests of corrupt Afghan officials. Despite the progress, Holbrooke acknowledges that there was still a lot of work to do in erasing corruption within the Afghan government.

One of the keys to a stronger Afghan government, Holbrooke said, is an effective transfer of control from US and NATO forces to locals. He said that, without a commitment to a smooth transfer, “the process will not move forward.”

Holbrooke stressed that persistent investment in the Afghan military and police forces and the economic development of the country is vital. Accomplishing these goals will require “continued American commitment,” and patience even after American troops have left the country.

Holbrooke’s testimony comes in wake of wavering Democratic support for the war in Afghanistan, including a vote for an additional $37 billion in war spending that 106 House Democrats voted against.

Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA), one of the opposing Democrats, questioned the validity of the United States’ mission in Afghanistan. Moran recounted his recent visit to Afghanistan where he was told that from the perspective of some Afghan tribal leaders, the United States “didn’t liberate Marja, the Taliban liberated it from a corrupt police chief who was preying on his own people.”

Leaked Documents Reveal Afghan Informants

While the U.S. government is downplaying the strategic impact surrounding the publication of classified military documents on the whistle-blower website Wikleaks, concerns linger over the danger the documents pose for Afghan informants.

According to the Times of London, hundreds of Afghans are named in the documents, and in one instance, the name of the father and village of a would-be Taliban defector is listed.

The Pentagon has not yet revealed any instances of violence against Afghans working with Americans spurred by the publication, but Pentagon spokesperson Colonel David Lapan noted anecdotally Wednesday that U.S. officers in the field have received ‘communications of displeasure’ from at least one informant.

Although the Pentagon is eager to avoid any more leaks, Lapan suggested that Wikileaks should at least run any additional documents by the Department of Defense to determine if they pose any risks.

Representatives from multiple corners of the U.S. government have claimed that the bulk of the information included in the leaks is already known, and thus argue that the leak would have little effect on American strategy. However, on Wednesday, Major General John F. Campbell told reporters in a briefing from Afghanistan that concerns over the revealed informants are warranted.

“If it does, in fact, name names of people who have worked with coalition forces, I could see that that could have a detriment down the road,” Campbell said.

Wikileaks released 75,000 of the 92,000 documents in their possession Sunday.

We're Going to Have to Kill A Lot of Taliban, Says Expert

Philip Bunnell - Talk Radio News Service

Dr. David Kilcullen told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday that in order to reach the point of reconciliation with insurgents in Afghanistan “we’re going to have to kill a lot of Taliban to get them to negotiate.”

Kilcullen , non-resident senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said bluntly that “when governments fight insurgents, they win 80% of the time, however, when governments fight insurgents in other countries, they are victorious 20% of the time.” 

Kilcullen said a government that is fighting insurgents at home has a political need to negotiate. Therefore, Kilcullen asserted that the United States will need to “negotiate from a position of strength,” and that the Taliban must believe that “they will have more to gain from talking to us than continuing to fight.”

Ryan Crocker, former ambassador to Iraq, agreed with Kilcullen saying that “reconciliation is only possible when insurgents are unsure if they are winning.”

Crocker also criticized the deadline for troop withdrawal in Afghanistan and the effects of publicizing will have on the attitudes of insurgents. While it is very complicated and nuanced, Crocker said he was concerned as to how the Taliban viewed the deadline, stating that they see it “as a date they need to hold out to, then they’ll be ok.”

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, briefly touched on the 90,000 leaked documents regarding the war in Afghanistan from the public whistleblower website WikiLeaks.

“It’s important not to overhype or get excessively excited about the meaning of those documents,” said Kerry. “To those of us who have lived through the Pentagon Papers… there is no relationship whatsoever between that event and these documents.”

Leaked Documents Do Not Reveal New Intel, Says Commander-In-Chief

President Barack Obama told reporters Tuesday that although he is concerned that the recent disclosure of sensitive information from Afghanistan’s battlefield may jeopardize operations, the leak of information does not reveal any new information.

“The fact is these documents don’t reveal any issues that haven’t already informed our public debate on Afghanistan,” Obama said. “Indeed, they point to the same challenges that led me to conduct an extensive review of our policy last fall.”

The President said that his change in policy is being reflected in the way the United States has continued its operations in Afghanistan. 

“We’ve substantially increased our commitment, insisted upon greater accountability from our partners in Afghanistan and Pakistan, developed a new strategy that can work and put in place a team that can execute that plan,” Obama said. “Now we have to see that strategy through.”

Obama urged the House today to pass legislation that would extend funding to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, legislation that has already unanimously passed through the Senate.

Pence: Leaked War Documents an Outrage

Philip Bunnell - Talk Radio News Service

Chairman of the House Republican Conference Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN) expressed outrage Monday over the 90,000 leaked Afghanistan war documents.

The documents, Pence said, were “leaked in a clear violation of the law, it was an outrage and ought to be an outrage to every American.” 

The New York Times, Britain’s The Guardian, and Der Spiegel of Germany all agreed to publish a select number of the war documents which were made public on Wikileaks, a public whistleblower website. Pence criticized the news syndications for publishing the documents, saying that the “publication of those documents was wrong.”

“When we are dealing with national security some things need to stay classified,” Pence said. “I am a champion of reporters’ privileges, but leaking information that compromises national security should not be protected.”

Pence criticized the deadline that President Obama set on troop withdrawal in Afghanistan. “The Taliban are using the president’s deadline as a recruiting tool,” Pence said. “We need to finish the job.”