ISAF Commander Gen. Joseph Dunford pushed back in a NY Times interview against a possible zero-option in Afghanistan, saying that at least 9,000 U.S. and Allied troops would be necessary to support the country’s forces through 2017.
A central theme in his pitch: Americans will not be fighting and dying here after 2014. Afghans are already doing most of the fighting, he said, and by the end of next year “the actual fighting on a day-to-day basis will all be done by Afghans.”
Still, “Afghan forces, at the end of 2014, won’t be completely independent,” he said. “Our presence post-2014 is necessary for the gains we have made to date to be sustainable.”
American forces will be critical behind the scenes for at least another three or four years, he said, to help Afghans master the nuts-and-bolts of running a military: logistics, intelligence analysis, developing the air force. “We’re not talking about putting people on the ground, in harm’s way,” General Dunford said.
Yet, in the interview, General Dunford was careful not to get ahead of the administration. When asked whether American forces would use air power to aid Afghan troops in battle after 2014, or help them evacuate the wounded, he replied, “That will be a policy decision that will be made sometime next year.”
Asked if the military could handle the eventuality of the zero option, the general replied: “Absolutely.”
The Times said Dunford requested the interview, clearly aware of the declining support for the war effort back at home. Only 28 percent of Americans think the war has been worth fighting, according to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll released last week.
A central theme in his pitch: Americans will not be fighting and dying here after 2014. Afghans are already doing most of the fighting, he said, and by the end of next year “the actual fighting on a day-to-day basis will all be done by Afghans.”
Still, “Afghan forces, at the end of 2014, won’t be completely independent,” he said. “Our presence post-2014 is necessary for the gains we have made to date to be sustainable.”
American forces will be critical behind the scenes for at least another three or four years, he said, to help Afghans master the nuts-and-bolts of running a military: logistics, intelligence analysis, developing the air force. “We’re not talking about putting people on the ground, in harm’s way,” General Dunford said.
Yet, in the interview, General Dunford was careful not to get ahead of the administration. When asked whether American forces would use air power to aid Afghan troops in battle after 2014, or help them evacuate the wounded, he replied, “That will be a policy decision that will be made sometime next year.”
Asked if the military could handle the eventuality of the zero option, the general replied: “Absolutely.”
The Times said Dunford requested the interview, clearly aware of the declining support for the war effort back at home. Only 28 percent of Americans think the war has been worth fighting, according to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll released last week.