NATO Secretary-General says Afghan troops likely to take control next year
By Anne Flaherty, APTuesday, September 7, 2010
NATO says Afghan forces can take control next year
WASHINGTON — U.S.-led NATO troops in Afghanistan should be able to start handing off responsibility for security to the Kabul government sometime next year, Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Tuesday.
While stopping short of setting a firm deadline, Rasmussen’s public declaration puts the security alliance in line with President Barack Obama’s promise to begin pulling U.S. troops out in July 2011.
But Rasmussen’s latest prediction also reflects a growing realization by NATO that security conditions won’t dramatically improve this year, as many hoped. At a NATO meeting in April, the secretary-general had said that handing over responsibility to the Afghans was a primary goal for this year.
Some NATO members have already pulled out of the mission or plan to do so soon because of a lack of public support.
NATO members were to meet in Lisbon, Portugal, in November to devise a plan for handing off control to the Afghans, including a timeline for various provinces and benchmarks to measure progress.
Rasmussen said he believes security conditions have improved enough so a transition is possible. However, he said the precise timing of a drawdown will depend upon conditions on the ground.
“We will not leave until we finish our job,” he told reporters before a meeting with Obama at the White House. “But it is very helpful to have this roadmap.”
War commanders have been more reluctant to put a date on when Afghan troops might take control. Lt. Gen. Bill Caldwell, the head of NATO’s training mission in Afghanistan, has said the alliance needs at least another year to recruit and train enough soldiers and police officers.
Rasmussen said setting next year as a goal for beginning to wind down troop levels does not conflict with a request by Gen. David Petraeus, NATO’s top commander in Afghanistan, for 2,000 more troops. Rasmussen said most of the 2,000 troops would be assigned to train Afghan security forces, in preparation for NATO’s eventual withdrawal.
“Trainers are the ticket to transition,” he said.
The Pentagon said Tuesday that the request for 2,000 more troops is a long-standing requirement for more trainers that will not be filled by U.S. forces.
“NATO will have to determine how to fill that requirement,” said Marine Col. Dave Lapan, a Defense Department spokesman.
NATO has been eager to show progress in the war. The alliance’s top commander in southern Afghanistan, British Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, said this week that coalition troops will clear the area around the key city of Kandahar by December.
In the meeting with Obama, the president thanked Rasmussen for NATO’s efforts to promote peace and stability around the world, particularly in Afghanistan, the White House said. Obama and Rasmussen also discussed goals for the Nov. 19-20 NATO Summit in Lisbon.
Although U.S. and NATO forces are expected to begin leaving Afghanistan next year, the U.S. government is expected to provide massive financial aid to the country for years to come.
According to a NATO document, the United States expects to spend about $6 billion a year training and supporting Afghan troops and police after it begins withdrawing its own combat troops in 2011.
Associated Press writer Pauline Jelinek contributed to this report.
