General Tells Congress That No Sudden Afghan Drawdown Is Planned
By Thom Shanker and John H. Cushman, Jr.
March 20, 2012
(WASHINGTON) The top allied commander in Afghanistan told Congress on Tuesday that he would not be recommending further American troop reductions until late this year, after the departure of the current “surge” forces and the end of the summer fighting season.
That timetable would defer one of the thorniest military decisions facing President Obama — the pace at which the United States removes its forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014— until after the November elections.
Gen. John R. Allen, a Marine four-star who commands the American-led allied forces in Afghanistan, said that he remained optimistic about eventual success but that it was too early to begin shifting forces from battles in the south to the country’s turbulent eastern provinces.
He also acknowledged the deep sensitivities, especially given the current diplomatic crisis with Afghanistan, of handing over complete security control to Afghan forces — including over the commando night raids that American commanders say are critical to the war effort. These are the subject of intense negotiation, he testified.
General Allen said that only after reviewing the results of the next six months of fighting — at the end of which there will be 68,000 American troops remaining there — would he turn his attention to the pace of further reductions in the force.
But he repeatedly said that by the end of next year, Afghan forces would have taken over primary responsibility for operations across the country, allowing NATO’s combat role to be finished by the end of 2014, as currently scheduled.
He spoke during a lengthy hearing of the House Armed Services Committee, where the questions and comments of members communicated a deep exhaustion with overseas conflict after two wars carried out over the decade since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
General Allen’s testimony also came after a troubling, violent period in Afghanistan, beginning with public protests — and a series of murders of American troops by Afghan security forces — after the burning of Islamic holy books by United States military personnel. That was followed by an American soldier’s rampage that left 16 civilians dead, most of them children.
General Allen said that in addition to the criminal inquiry into the massacre, there would be an administrative investigation into the command climate and headquarters organization of the soldier’s unit.
In his opening statement, he did not stray from the line taken by the White House and the Pentagon in recent weeks: that the progress toward what the Obama administration calls an “orderly and responsible” transfer of the fight against insurgents from the American-led alliance to the fledgling Afghan Army is going smoothly and that the schedule should not be altered.
He said he recognized the challenges, and deplored the Koran burnings and the massacre. But he and members of the committee both described those events as isolated, if unfortunate, and there was little discussion of them at the hearing.
Instead, it focused on the schedule and the mechanics of the withdrawal that lies ahead, a subject that is being reviewed by NATO, whose member states are assembling their leadership in May in Chicago, and in talks between the Karzai government and Washington.
On one delicate subject, the night raids carried out by Special Operations forces that have unsettled the Afghans but are credited with weakening the insurgency’s command structure, General Allen said the Afghans would be taking control of them, too, eventually. Twelve Afghan strike teams are being trained for that purpose, he testified.
He said it was important not to rob the surprise raids of “their momentum, which gives them their effectiveness.” And he said it was “very premature” to say what would be the outcome of the talks. Ultimately, he said, as the Afghans take control of operations, the requirements of the Afghan Constitution would need to be respected.
[...]
Showing posts with label General John Allen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General John Allen. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
General John Allen
"Allen was the first U.S. general to notice that Sunni tribes there were turning against al-Qaida, and he spent considerable time and resources persuading Sunni leaders to fight alongside the U.S. That cooperation helped push al-Qaida out of the area, an important turning point of the broader war."
Afghan Shootings Put Little-Known Commander Into the Spotlight
By Yochi J. Dreazen
March 13, 2012 [updated March 14]
National Journal
In Kabul, Gen. John Allen has the difficult job of commanding all Western forces in Afghanistan. Here in Washington, he'll face a different kind of challenge: defending the unpopular war to skeptical lawmakers and journalists.
It is a new mission for the Marine general, who hasn't testified before either the House or Senate Armed Services panels since taking his post last year. Allen is also certain to face hard questions about whether troop withdrawals should accelerate because of the war's uncertain progress and the widespread Afghan fury over last weekend's massacre of 16 civilians allegedly by one American soldier.
Serving as the face of an unpopular war would be difficult for any general, but Allen may have a particularly tough time because of his low public profile. In the days since news of the attack in Kandahar province went public, Allen has spoken to CNN.
His predecessor, David Petraeus, was a celebrity general who spent considerable time testifying on the Hill and talking to reporters. During the contentious debate over the Iraq surge, the Bush administration effectively made Petraeus the primary surrogate for discussions with lawmakers. During later visits back home from the war zones, Petraeus regularly spoke at public events.
Allen, by contrast, is widely respected in the Pentagon and White House but has little experience in the public-relations aspects of his job. His testimony next Tuesday will be the first time he has been back on the Hill since his initial confirmation hearing last June (Allen will also testify on Thursday). Military officials say that Allen will hold a Pentagon news conference on Monday, but the commander doesn’t--at least for the moment--have any other public events on his schedule.
“A lot of this is based on relationships, and if a general hasn’t gotten to know individual reporters it makes the media part of the job harder,” said retired Army Col. Steve Boylan, who spent several years serving as Petraeus’s primary spokesman. “The other issue is how well members of Congress know him. By the time Petraeus had been confirmed for the CIA, he’d been to the Hill more than anyone in uniform besides the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”
Boylan said that Petraeus saw his interactions with lawmakers and the media as important aspects of his job but had only taken on so public a role at the express direction of senior Bush administration officials.
“Let’s face it, when the president singles you out, you have to do what’s asked,” Boylan said. “Whenever President Bush talked about Iraq, Petraeus’s name was in the speech, usually at least a half dozen times.”
Allen is still working to build up relationships with key lawmakers and the press. His visit also comes during an unusually difficult phase of the war. Public support is falling--a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 60 percent of Americans believe the war is no longer worth the costs--and leading GOP presidential contenders have started signaling they believe the war should wind down sooner than planned. The deadly shootings in Kandahar are adding fuel to domestic doubts about the conflict.
Capt. John Kirby, Allen’s spokesman, said that the commander was ready for whatever lawmakers choose to ask him.
“General Allen will be prepared to deal with all their questions about the mission in Afghanistan and how it's going,” he said.
The commander, Kirby said, would highlight his belief that the U.S. and its allies “have wrested the initiative from the Taliban” on the battlefield, and made real progress toward building Afghan security forces capable of gradually supplanting the NATO forces.
Many senior military officials privately express frustration that Allen is so little known despite his key role in turning around the Iraq war.
During the run-up to the surge, Allen commanded all of the Marine forces in Anbar province, then a hotbed of the insurgency. Allen was the first U.S. general to notice that Sunni tribes there were turning against al-Qaida, and he spent considerable time and resources persuading Sunni leaders to fight alongside the U.S. That cooperation helped push al-Qaida out of the area, an important turning point of the broader war.
Other officers were often quietly critical of Allen's boss, Petraeus, who was sometimes accused of being too eager to burnish his own image to continue ascending in the military hierarchy. Allen doesn't face any of those critiques.
Still, Allen's low public profile will almost certainly make his tough PR job even tougher. But he will become better known next week during the Capitol Hill hearings. If they go well, the Obama administration--and the military--will have a powerful new advocate for giving the current Afghan war strategy more time to work. If they don’t, the White House may wish it had a better salesman.
Afghan Shootings Put Little-Known Commander Into the Spotlight
By Yochi J. Dreazen
March 13, 2012 [updated March 14]
National Journal
In Kabul, Gen. John Allen has the difficult job of commanding all Western forces in Afghanistan. Here in Washington, he'll face a different kind of challenge: defending the unpopular war to skeptical lawmakers and journalists.
It is a new mission for the Marine general, who hasn't testified before either the House or Senate Armed Services panels since taking his post last year. Allen is also certain to face hard questions about whether troop withdrawals should accelerate because of the war's uncertain progress and the widespread Afghan fury over last weekend's massacre of 16 civilians allegedly by one American soldier.
Serving as the face of an unpopular war would be difficult for any general, but Allen may have a particularly tough time because of his low public profile. In the days since news of the attack in Kandahar province went public, Allen has spoken to CNN.
His predecessor, David Petraeus, was a celebrity general who spent considerable time testifying on the Hill and talking to reporters. During the contentious debate over the Iraq surge, the Bush administration effectively made Petraeus the primary surrogate for discussions with lawmakers. During later visits back home from the war zones, Petraeus regularly spoke at public events.
Allen, by contrast, is widely respected in the Pentagon and White House but has little experience in the public-relations aspects of his job. His testimony next Tuesday will be the first time he has been back on the Hill since his initial confirmation hearing last June (Allen will also testify on Thursday). Military officials say that Allen will hold a Pentagon news conference on Monday, but the commander doesn’t--at least for the moment--have any other public events on his schedule.
“A lot of this is based on relationships, and if a general hasn’t gotten to know individual reporters it makes the media part of the job harder,” said retired Army Col. Steve Boylan, who spent several years serving as Petraeus’s primary spokesman. “The other issue is how well members of Congress know him. By the time Petraeus had been confirmed for the CIA, he’d been to the Hill more than anyone in uniform besides the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”
Boylan said that Petraeus saw his interactions with lawmakers and the media as important aspects of his job but had only taken on so public a role at the express direction of senior Bush administration officials.
“Let’s face it, when the president singles you out, you have to do what’s asked,” Boylan said. “Whenever President Bush talked about Iraq, Petraeus’s name was in the speech, usually at least a half dozen times.”
Allen is still working to build up relationships with key lawmakers and the press. His visit also comes during an unusually difficult phase of the war. Public support is falling--a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 60 percent of Americans believe the war is no longer worth the costs--and leading GOP presidential contenders have started signaling they believe the war should wind down sooner than planned. The deadly shootings in Kandahar are adding fuel to domestic doubts about the conflict.
Capt. John Kirby, Allen’s spokesman, said that the commander was ready for whatever lawmakers choose to ask him.
“General Allen will be prepared to deal with all their questions about the mission in Afghanistan and how it's going,” he said.
The commander, Kirby said, would highlight his belief that the U.S. and its allies “have wrested the initiative from the Taliban” on the battlefield, and made real progress toward building Afghan security forces capable of gradually supplanting the NATO forces.
Many senior military officials privately express frustration that Allen is so little known despite his key role in turning around the Iraq war.
During the run-up to the surge, Allen commanded all of the Marine forces in Anbar province, then a hotbed of the insurgency. Allen was the first U.S. general to notice that Sunni tribes there were turning against al-Qaida, and he spent considerable time and resources persuading Sunni leaders to fight alongside the U.S. That cooperation helped push al-Qaida out of the area, an important turning point of the broader war.
Other officers were often quietly critical of Allen's boss, Petraeus, who was sometimes accused of being too eager to burnish his own image to continue ascending in the military hierarchy. Allen doesn't face any of those critiques.
Still, Allen's low public profile will almost certainly make his tough PR job even tougher. But he will become better known next week during the Capitol Hill hearings. If they go well, the Obama administration--and the military--will have a powerful new advocate for giving the current Afghan war strategy more time to work. If they don’t, the White House may wish it had a better salesman.
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