Former U.S. military chief wants U.S. to stay the course in Afghanistan

Macau News.Net
Friday 16th October, 2009

A former U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has backed moves for the United States to extend and reinforce its commitment to Afghanistan.

Retired General Richard Myers says the U.S. should recommit to a broad, troop-intensive counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan. It is doesn't the U.S. risks sparking regional instability, and a rise of global extremism, he says.

General Myers oversaw counterinsurgency campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq and spent many hundreds of hours with Pentagon and White House officials weighing up the various campaigns, and indeed the invasions, initiated in ecah country.

"My experience has been that the president would be eager to hear from lots of different voices in this argument so that he can build conviction on what the United States ought to do," he said Friday.

"The field commander has said 'I need a lot more troops.' And I think it's more than most people, at least in their calculus in the back of their minds, imprecise as that probably was, it was a larger number than they were prepared for," he said.

"This threat from violent extremism, not just in Afghanistan, not just in Pakistan, but globally, is a real existential threat to freedom-loving countries. And so Pakistan and Afghanistan today, that's where we need to work. So I think we need to devote the resources to try to be successful," General Myers added.

"They've shown that they want a choice in their lives. And I don't think the international community, not just the United States but the international community, can turn their backs on them," he said.

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