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December 4, 2007 By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan - Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to talk with NATO military leaders about increasing levels of violence in Afghanistan amid concerns by U.S. defense official that the reason may be an escalation of al-Qaida activity.
On his third trip to Afghanistan, Gates said he has not yet seen data on any uptick in al-Qaida activity, but increasing levels of violence in the country are clear and that he plans to talk about it with other defense leaders from NATO nations operating in Afghanistan.
Gates was expected to meet with key country leaders, including a Tuesday visit with President Hamid Karzai, as well as talk to commanders about conditions across the provinces.
As if to underscore the concern, a suicide car bomber targeted a NATO convoy in Kabul on Tuesday not long after Gates had passed along the same road, which had been closed to other traffic while Gates was traveling on it. NATO said 22 civilians who were near the blast were wounded.
"I'm not worried about a backslide as much as I am (about) how we continue the momentum going forward," Gates told reporters in Djibouti on Monday before he left for Kabul. "One of the clear concerns that we all have is that in the last two or three years there has been a continuing increase in the overall level of violence."
A senior defense official said the U.S. military is concerned and is looking for definitive signs of greater activity by al-Qaida and foreign fighters, but the U.S. has not seen enough proof to draw any final conclusions. The official discussed the terrorist network on condition of anonymity because of the security concerns.
As Gates headed to Kabul, U.S. officials also said they now were considering providing arms to local tribes in Afghanistan, along with training, equipment and other support. The effort would be modeled after successful efforts in Iraq to empower the locals to police their own neighborhoods.
While no decisions have been made, officials said the plan was under review.
The U.S. military has been pushing the idea that more attention must be paid to tribal leaders in the provinces in both Afghanistan and Iraq, rather than focusing all the attention on buttressing the central governments of those two nations. The thinking is that the locals are closer to the community and their people, and thus can better police their own streets.
Military officials have said they believe that the Taliban in Afghanistan is being refueled, possibly by militants in Pakistan crossing the border, or through support from other countries in the region sympathetic to the militants.
Insurgents are also finding more financing, including by taxing the widespread poppy crops that are used to make opium drugs.
Senior officials with Gates said they were troubled by the overall increase in violence in Afghanistan, particularly in the south. And they said it would be a key topic of discussion when Gates and other defense leaders from countries involved in the coalition in that region meet in Scotland later this month.
This year has been the most violent since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Insurgency-related violence has claimed nearly 6,200 lives, according to a tally of figures from Afghan and Western officials.
The number of attacks has surged, including roadside bombings and suicide assaults.
There are about 26,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, including 13,000 with the NATO-led coalition. The other 13,000 are training the Afghan forces and hunting al-Qaida terrorists.
Defense officials said that while NATO is still looking for at least a battalion of troops to supplement the fight in Afghanistan, the U.S. is not, at this point, moving to fill that need. Gates pressed NATO leaders earlier this year to fill some of the gaps in equipment and troops in Afghanistan, but got only a lukewarm response.
Gates' visit coincides with the release of a new poll that found Afghans are increasingly critical of U.S. military efforts, with just over half of Afghans still having confidence in the ability of U.S. and NATO forces to provide security — down from two-thirds a year ago. The survey, conducted for ABC News, the BBC and the German public TV station ARD, found that Afghans overwhelmingly prefer the government of Karzai to the Taliban, but they also believed that government should negotiate with the Taliban to end the war.
December 4, 2007 By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan - Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to talk with NATO military leaders about increasing levels of violence in Afghanistan amid concerns by U.S. defense official that the reason may be an escalation of al-Qaida activity.
On his third trip to Afghanistan, Gates said he has not yet seen data on any uptick in al-Qaida activity, but increasing levels of violence in the country are clear and that he plans to talk about it with other defense leaders from NATO nations operating in Afghanistan.
Gates was expected to meet with key country leaders, including a Tuesday visit with President Hamid Karzai, as well as talk to commanders about conditions across the provinces.
As if to underscore the concern, a suicide car bomber targeted a NATO convoy in Kabul on Tuesday not long after Gates had passed along the same road, which had been closed to other traffic while Gates was traveling on it. NATO said 22 civilians who were near the blast were wounded.
"I'm not worried about a backslide as much as I am (about) how we continue the momentum going forward," Gates told reporters in Djibouti on Monday before he left for Kabul. "One of the clear concerns that we all have is that in the last two or three years there has been a continuing increase in the overall level of violence."
A senior defense official said the U.S. military is concerned and is looking for definitive signs of greater activity by al-Qaida and foreign fighters, but the U.S. has not seen enough proof to draw any final conclusions. The official discussed the terrorist network on condition of anonymity because of the security concerns.
As Gates headed to Kabul, U.S. officials also said they now were considering providing arms to local tribes in Afghanistan, along with training, equipment and other support. The effort would be modeled after successful efforts in Iraq to empower the locals to police their own neighborhoods.
While no decisions have been made, officials said the plan was under review.
The U.S. military has been pushing the idea that more attention must be paid to tribal leaders in the provinces in both Afghanistan and Iraq, rather than focusing all the attention on buttressing the central governments of those two nations. The thinking is that the locals are closer to the community and their people, and thus can better police their own streets.
Military officials have said they believe that the Taliban in Afghanistan is being refueled, possibly by militants in Pakistan crossing the border, or through support from other countries in the region sympathetic to the militants.
Insurgents are also finding more financing, including by taxing the widespread poppy crops that are used to make opium drugs.
Senior officials with Gates said they were troubled by the overall increase in violence in Afghanistan, particularly in the south. And they said it would be a key topic of discussion when Gates and other defense leaders from countries involved in the coalition in that region meet in Scotland later this month.
This year has been the most violent since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Insurgency-related violence has claimed nearly 6,200 lives, according to a tally of figures from Afghan and Western officials.
The number of attacks has surged, including roadside bombings and suicide assaults.
There are about 26,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, including 13,000 with the NATO-led coalition. The other 13,000 are training the Afghan forces and hunting al-Qaida terrorists.
Defense officials said that while NATO is still looking for at least a battalion of troops to supplement the fight in Afghanistan, the U.S. is not, at this point, moving to fill that need. Gates pressed NATO leaders earlier this year to fill some of the gaps in equipment and troops in Afghanistan, but got only a lukewarm response.
Gates' visit coincides with the release of a new poll that found Afghans are increasingly critical of U.S. military efforts, with just over half of Afghans still having confidence in the ability of U.S. and NATO forces to provide security — down from two-thirds a year ago. The survey, conducted for ABC News, the BBC and the German public TV station ARD, found that Afghans overwhelmingly prefer the government of Karzai to the Taliban, but they also believed that government should negotiate with the Taliban to end the war.