The U.S. general overseeing the war in Afghanistan is leaving open the possibility of yet another escalation in American involvement there, confirming a deterioration in security amid the drawdown under President Barack Obama and casting a bleak outlook on ending the nearly 15-year-old war.
"My intent would be to keep as much as I could for as long as I could," Army Gen. John Campbell toldUSA Today. The general will visit the District of Columbia in the near future to make his recommendations but refused to offer specifics, saying, "some of them will not go over well with people," and "some of them will get approved."
Obama announced earlier in October he would shift away from his scheduled plan to reduce U.S. troops from 10,000 down to fewer than 5,000 by the end of this year, withdrawing all except for a small embassy presence by the end of 2016. Instead, 5,500 U.S. troops plus a few thousand NATO soldiers will remain in the country beyond the end of Obama's second term.
In his interview, Campbell cited Obama's flexibility and said the president has provided him with whatever he has asked for. The general added, however, that his responsibilities include telling his leadership if his mission requires more resources.
"If that means more people, it's more people," he said.
Hawkish members of Congress, including the chairmen of the House and Senate armed services committees, have long criticized Obama for basing his withdrawal decisions on calendar dates and numbers they consider arbitrary political goals.
"We have made significant and steady progress in Afghanistan. But as U.S. military officials and diplomats have warned for years – I repeat, for years – these gains are still reversible, and a robust and adaptive U.S. troop presence based on conditions on the ground is essential to ensuring that these gains endure," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing with Campbell in October. "Failure to adopt such a conditions-based plan, these experts have warned, would invite the same tragedy that has unfolded in Iraq since 2011. If we have learned anything from that nightmare, it is that wars do not end just because politicians say so."
Campbell's comments come at a time of growing violence in the perennially warring Afghanistan. The Taliban has resurged into its previous strongholds as the U.S.-led coalition has drawn down its total numbers and restricted its activities to supporting Afghan forces and providing air and other technical support. Local police are refusing to return to the streets of Helmand Province, considered the heartland of the Taliban, local officials tell The Associated Press, citing fears over renewed violence in the major poppy-growing region.
The shift in the U.S. role means Afghan troops have inherited the brunt of the fighting, reflected in the casualty numbers. As many as 7,000 have been killed this year, and 12,000 have been wounded.
Local politicians have criticized the U.S. decision to continue its calendar withdrawal.
"I think the world has not taken a good decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan," Afghan member of parliament Farhad Azimi said, according to local news service Outlook Afghanistan. "This decision needs to be revised."
Perhaps the most concerning trend internationally has been the uptick in Islamic State group violence in Afghanistan. U.S. officials do not believe the extremist network has been able to extend its ability to command and control forces beyond its so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria and smuggling routes into Libya, but its brand of hardline Islam has inspired extremist groups worldwide to pledge allegiance to what has become the most high profile brand in terrorism.
Serious concerns have spread through Afghanistan after forces aligned with the Islamic State group reportedly captured and beheaded four members of a private pro-government militia in the warring eastern district of Achin. The militia responded by beheading four Islamic State group prisoners, reportedly placing their heads on a pile of stones along the main roads. The incident has caused local politicians -- desperate to keep the myriad fighting forces throughout the country aligned under the rule of law -- to fear the fragile security state is slipping beyond their control.
"This behavior is unlawful and against humanity. We are not ISIS to do these things," Ahmed Ali, head of the provincial council in Nangahar province, which includes Achin, told The Washington Post, using an alternative name for the Islamic State group.
"If militias are going to fight, they should be organized by the government and fight under its flag," he said. "If they go out on their own, things like this can happen."
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