WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday coalition forces are not winning yet in Afghanistan, and a new strategy is needed.
Adm. Michael Mullen told the House Committee on the Armed Services that a new strategy must target insurgents on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border.
"I'm not convinced we're winning it in Afghanistan. I am convinced we can," Mullen said. "That is why I intend to commission and ... am looking at a new, more comprehensive military strategy for the region that covers both sides of that border."
The need for a better strategy is "why the chiefs and I recommended the deployment of a Marine battalion to Afghanistan this fall and the arrival of another Army brigade early next year," Mullen said. He said the new troops would be an "important start."
Defense Secretary Robert Gates also criticized the Afghan effort, saying, "I am still not satisfied with the level of coordination and collaboration among the numerous partners and many moving parts associated with civilian reconstruction and development and building the capacity of the Afghan government."
Mullen said the "extraordinary success" of the U.S. strategy in Iraq and "the growing competence of the Iraqi military and police forces" allow the withdrawal of one Army brigade and one Marine battalion, but troops in Iraq and in the United States can be used if needed in the wake of such a withdrawal.
