Levin says surge must boost Afghan army - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Levin says surge must boost Afghan army

WASHINGTON — The leading Senate Democrat on military matters says President Barack Obama’s anticipated plan for significantly expanding U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan must show how these reinforcements will help increase the size of the Afghan security forces.

Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Sunday that more Afghan soldiers and police officers are central to succeeding in the war, and more U.S. trainers and equipment can help meet that goal. But it’s unclear, Levin said, what role tens of thousands additional combat troops will play and Obama has to make a compelling case during a national address he’s scheduled to give Tuesday night from West Point.

“The key here is an Afghan surge, not an American surge,” Levin said. “We cannot, by ourselves, win [the] war.”

Levin’s remarks are a preview of the possible roadblocks Obama faces from his own party as he prepares to sell a broader, more expensive battle plan for Afghanistan to an American public weary of the conflict that began just weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

At West Point, Obama is expected to announce an increase of up to 35,000 more U.S. forces to defeat the Taliban-led insurgency and stabilize a weak Afghan government. The escalation, which would take place over the next year, would put more than 100,000 American troops in Afghanistan at an annual cost of about $75 billion. Levin and other Democrats are concerned over the price tag and have proposed a war tax to pay for operations.

With Obama’s Afghanistan speech coming as the Senate takes up the debate over the health care overhaul, a senior Republican senator recommended that Congress postpone the health care effort until next year so Congress can concentrate on how to pay for the military operations.

Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said many issues should be considered, including the possibility of raising taxes.

“The war is terribly important,” Lugar said. “Jobs and our economy are terribly important. So this may be an audacious suggestion, but I would suggest we put aside the health care debate until next year, the same way we put cap and trade and climate change, and talk now about the essentials: the war and money.”

But Democratic Sen. Jack Reed said health care legislation is at a critical stage and passing it is too important to the economy and American businesses.

“I think we’re in the midst of probably the most significant debate and conclusion with legislation that we’ve ever had,” Reed said. “We have to go ahead and conclude this debate.”

Reed, also a member of the Armed Services Committee, said he is looking for Obama to lay out a strategy that reaches beyond Afghanistan and involves protecting the U.S. from al-Qaida. That involves being influential in neighboring Pakistan and a combination of intelligence, counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations, he said.

“And the key element here is not just more troops. The key element is shifting the operations to the Afghanis,” Reed said. “And if that can be done, then I would support the president.”

Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, has recommended speeding up the growth of the Afghan army and police. He wants an overall Afghan security force of 400,000 — 240,000 army troops and 160,000 police officers — by 2013. Levin has proposed moving that date to 2012.

Levin appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” Lugar and Reed appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union.