Pentagon
30 October 2008
The American general widely credited with turning around the war in Iraq takes command Friday of U.S. forces throughout the Middle East and Central Asia - putting him in charge of U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan, as well as Iraq and the surrounding region. VOA Pentagon Correspondent Al Pessin reports on the new challenges facing David Petraeus.
It is not difficult to find praise for General David Petraeus' year-and-a-half in Iraq, during which violence dropped 80 percent and U.S. troops began to hand over responsibility to the new Iraqi forces in large parts of the country.
This is how retired General Gordon Sullivan introduced Petraeus at a conference of soldiers, veterans and their supporters in Washington earlier this month.
He said, "You have a very unique opportunity today to listen to this great soldier, scholar, commander, thinker, athlete and leader of troops, a great American and a great American soldier, General David Petraeus."
Such praise appears to slightly embarrass General Petraeus, who is always quick to say he shares any credit with U.S., coalition, and Iraqi troops.
But these days, more than a month after he left Iraq, attention is shifting to what Petraeus will do in his new job, and particularly whether he will be able to apply the counterinsurgency doctrine he published and then used in Iraq to the increasingly tough fight against the Taliban, al-Qaida and associated groups in Afghanistan.
In a VOA interview, Petraeus said the Afghanistan war is a very different fight, but he also said some of what he did in Iraq will apply there.
"There are certain concepts, obviously, that apply to many contingencies - certainly the need to focus on the security of the population, to try where possible, and in the case of Afghanistan, clearly, with President Karzai's support, to pursue reconciliation where that's sensible, where it won't collide with warlordism and so forth," he said.
The general's call for talks with what he calls "reconcilable" elements of the insurgency, potentially including some Taliban elements, was endorsed by his boss, Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
General Petraeus listed a dozen other keys to counterinsurgency, including securing and living among the local people, coordinating with civilian agencies from many countries and with aid groups, pursuing irreconcilable enemy leaders and fighters, and training local forces to prepare for a transition of responsibility.
The general will start his command with a thorough review of the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. The Pentagon and the White House are also conducting reviews. All that will be available for the new president to evaluate and make decisions on when he takes office in January.
But General Petraeus told VOA the mission in Afghanistan will require more U.S. troops, just like he got in the famous "surge" in Iraq.
"There is no question but that Afghanistan needs additional forces. Everyone agrees with that," he said. "I am among them. The secretary of defense, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, NATO secretary general, NATO leaders, and so forth, all very much agree on that score. Precisely how many, what configuration and so forth is what will be sorted out over the course of the months ahead."
Officials said the U.S. troop increase in Afghanistan could reach 20,000 or more during the coming year, in addition to the 20,000-troop increase by the United States and NATO allies during the past year. But the United States can only do that if security conditions enable it to reduce the troop level in Iraq by about the same number.
The first additional brigade of about 4,000 U.S. troops is expected to be in Afghanistan by January. The U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, says he needs a sustained increase, not just a temporary surge.
Retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and counterinsurgency expert John Nagle said General Petraeus' experience will serve him well in his new job as U.S. Central Command leader.
"The principles of counterinsurgency that General Petraeus employed so effectively in Iraq in fact have much to teach us about a better approach to the war in Afghanistan," he said. "Perhaps the most important of those lessons is the absolute necessity to create security on the ground. And the only way to do that in a lasting way is to put ground troops in."
But some experts warned that sending too many U.S. troops could create more opposition. They urge a more Afghan-based approach, supported by foreign aid.
Professor Andrew Bacevich at Boston University predicted that General Petraeus will not be able to apply the formula that led to success in Iraq to create a successful strategy for Afghanistan.
"I doubt it. The two theaters of war are radically different in terms of geopolitical setting, in terms of their history, culture, the makeup of the population," he said. "So to imagine that if there is a cookie-cutter recipe that it can be applied to Afghanistan I think is probably too optimistic."
Another defense analyst, Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution in Washington, was also skeptical of any effort to directly apply tactics that worked in Iraq to Afghanistan.
"Afghanistan is actually in some ways a harder problem at this point, and not totally analogous to what Iraq had been two years ago," he said. "I do think it's actually a situation that's going to require some fresh new ideas."
General Petraeus acknowledges things have not gone well in Afghanistan in recent months, and he recognizes the country and the conflict are very different from Iraq. In addition, many players have a voice in how the Afghanistan war is conducted, including NATO countries and the Afghan government. There is also the added complexity of insurgents who have bases in Pakistan, and the increase in violence they have been able to generate.
He said, "In some respects, there has been a downward spiral in some areas. The trends have gone in the wrong direction. So in certain areas you clearly have to arrest those trends, reverse them, and then begin moving forward."
Afghanistan is the main challenge General Petraeus will face in his new command, but not the only one. Among the many other concerns in his region, he will also have to support the continuing U.S. effort in Iraq, manage security in the Persian Gulf, worry about the potential for conflict with Iran and work with Pakistani leaders to help address the insurgent safe havens along the Afghan border. Iraq was a difficult problem. Petraeus' new job is exponentially more complex.