US Military Seeks New Afghanistan Strategy

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10 September 2008
The top U.S. military officer says he has ordered the development of a new, more comprehensive strategy for the war in Afghanistan, including a plan to shift U.S. forces from Iraq to Afghanistan, announced by President Bush on Tuesday. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

"I worry that the great progress our troops and the Iraqis have made has the potential to override a measure of caution born of uncertainty," Gates said. "Our military commanders do not yet believe our gains are necessarily enduring. And they believe that there are still many challenges and the potential for reversals in the future."

Secretary Gates said the conflict in Iraq has undergone a "fundamental change," but he repeated his view that the United States and its allies must now "get the end game there right." The secretary is so concerned that he made a rare statement, for him, that could be interpreted as injecting his views into the presidential election campaign, where the U.S. troop commitment in Iraq is a major issue.

"I would urge our nation's leaders to implement strategies that while steadily reducing our presence in Iraq are cautious and flexible, and take into account the advice of our senior commanders and military leaders," Gates said. "I would also urge our leaders to keep in mind that we should expect to be involved in Iraq for years to come, although in changing and increasingly limited ways."

Secretary Gates said although the country's top military leaders came at the question of Iraq troop levels from different perspectives, they all ended up agreeing to recommend the small withdrawal of 8,000 troops during the next five months that President Bush announced Tuesday, in order to ensure that security gains are not lost.