WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- More troops are needed to support the war effort in Afghanistan as the mission evolves to reconstruct government institutions, U.S. Adm. Mike Mullen says.
U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top military commander in Afghanistan, is scheduled to brief Washington officials on the status of the revamped war effort there.
U.S. President Barack Obama had outlined a new strategy for Afghanistan that emphasizes reconstruction and counterinsurgency tactics employed during the Iraq war.
Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met during the weekend with McChrystal and Defense Secretary Robert Gates ahead of the briefing for Obama.
"What he's found is it's a very tough fight, probably tougher than he thought it would be," Mullen said in an interview with National Public Radio.
Mullen says the mission in Afghanistan may require additional troops as the effort there moves to create government infrastructure. Beyond troop capacity, civilian efforts were needed to support the push to rebuild the nation after decades of war.
"One of the reasons that it's a tougher fight is because it has been under-resourced," he added.
He went on to stress the need for swift action in Afghanistan as the country prepares for presidential and provincial elections on Aug. 20. In the long term, he said it was important to "turn this thing around" by 2011.
"I think we know how to do it," he said. "We've got the resources currently this year laid in to do that, and we've got leadership that's focused on it."
