Next U.S. Commander in Afghanistan Will 'Re-Look' at Troop Levels to Deny Terrorists Sanctuary
(CNSNews.com) - The Obama administration's goal in Afghanistan was "to destroy the core al-Qaida cell that had planned and supported the worst terrorist attack on American soil back in 2001. And that objective was achieved," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Wednesday.
Earnest said the Obama administration still expects to reduce troop levels to about 5,500, down from the current 9,800, by the end of this year.
But one day later, Lt. Gen. John Nicholson, President Obama’s nominee to be the next commander in Afghanistan, told the Senate Armed Services Committee, "I view it incumbent upon me...to estimate for our political leadership the necessary (troop) capability" to accomplish U.S. goals in Afghanistan.
Nicholson on Thursday said U.S. troop strength "must be adequate to support the two core missions in Afghanistan -- counterterrorism, a problem that is expanding; and training, advising and assisting the Afghan National Security Forces, which are far from self-sustaining.
"What I say is, we need both of those capabilities, definitely," Nicholson said at his confirmation hearing. "And what I would like to be able to do in my first 90 days (assuming he is confirmed) is take a re-look at that -- what is necessary, what amount of capability is necessary given the current conditions."
"The counter-terrorism mission seems to have expanded," Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) told Nicholson. "[A]n argument for (troop) capacity in Afghanistan would be simply the fact that there are many more al Qaida, Pakistan, Taliban, Haqqani in your area of operations. Is that a fair assessment?"
"Sir, I think it's fair to say," Nicholson responded.
"As you said in your opening statement, sir, the presence of ISKP -- the Islamic State/Khorasan Province in southeast Kandahar; the presence of al Qaida in the Indian subcontinent,AQ/IS (Islamic State) inside the Shorabak district of Kandahar -- both of these are clear attempts by transnational terrorist organizations to establish sanctuary inside Afghanistan."
Nicholson said it will "take some time" before the Afghanistan security forces are self-sustaining militarily. He said they are good fighters, but they lack supporting institutions, which the U.S. has had to build "from the ground up."
"There will always be some level of violence in Afghanistan," Nicholson told the committee. "So from my perspective, the ability of the security forces to maintain that level of violence, and for their part, prevent the re-emergence of these (terrorist) sanctuaries...this is really the standard we're looking for.
"We're not trying to create a Western-style society here. We are looking at an adequate level of security to prevent the re-emergence of transnational terrorist threats."
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http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/next-us-commander-afghanistan-will-re-look-troops-levels 
