Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Aviation Week & Space Technology
February 25, 2008
Pg. 27
Washington Outlook
By Frank Morring, Jr.
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee wants Defense Secretary Robert Gates to expand the scope of the U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) is urging Gates to bump up the headquarters’ status to a three-star command—headed by a lieutenant general or vice admiral. Based in Kabul, the upgraded command would improve coordination between U.S. forces and NATO’s International Security Assistance Force on military, political and economic assistance, Skelton says. “The situation in Afghanistan,” he writes in a letter to Gates “is not purely or even primarily a military problem.” Currently, the U.S. headquarters, a 90-min. drive outside Kabul, rates a two-star commander and is focused only on one region of the country—Regional Command East—according to Skelton.
February 25, 2008
Pg. 27
Washington Outlook
By Frank Morring, Jr.
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee wants Defense Secretary Robert Gates to expand the scope of the U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) is urging Gates to bump up the headquarters’ status to a three-star command—headed by a lieutenant general or vice admiral. Based in Kabul, the upgraded command would improve coordination between U.S. forces and NATO’s International Security Assistance Force on military, political and economic assistance, Skelton says. “The situation in Afghanistan,” he writes in a letter to Gates “is not purely or even primarily a military problem.” Currently, the U.S. headquarters, a 90-min. drive outside Kabul, rates a two-star commander and is focused only on one region of the country—Regional Command East—according to Skelton.