| Ander Nieuws week 12 / nieuwe oorlog 2008 |
Army Times
March 10, 2008
Gina Cavallaro
A senior officer here cautiously rejected a Washington think tank’s suggestion that a "second surge" of combat troops was needed to close out the war against insurgents in this country.
Brig. Gen. Joseph Votel, deputy commanding general of Combined Joint Task Force 82, said in an interview Feb. 10 that a surge of a different type was needed.
"It's hard for me as a guy in uniform to not want more soldiers here, but frankly, that's not what we need," he said.
Instead, he said, the country and its government are in desperate need of other types of specialists, such as engineers, farmers, agronomists, hydroelectric power experts and transportation experts.
A group of analysts brought together by the conservative American Enterprise Institute to examine the situation in Afghanistan is expected to release a report this month recommending a boost of three U.S. brigade combat teams through 2010 to address a growing insurgency in this country.
Votel, who said he had not seen the report, said that "what we need here are people who can come in and develop big-time power."
"We've got dozens and dozens of water projects ... That's great, but what we need is" power-generating stations on par with the big dams in the U.S.
The addition of more combat troops is not as simple as it sounds, he said, pointing out that such a move would require more aviation, sustainment and other support elements, as well as bases for the added forces.
"We have one aviation brigade to cover forces in all our provinces. That's a lot of helicopters, we could certainly use more and you would need more if you brought that many people. You want to be able to provide fire support. Then, of course, you'd have to build bases and that sort of thing," Votel said, describing the current bases as adequate for their current use, but austere.
CJTF-82, which is under the headquarters of the 82nd Airborne Division, includes the 82nd Airborne's 4th Brigade Combat Team, the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team and several brigade- and battalion-level aviation, logistics and support task forces, provincial reconstruction teams, Special Forces teams and one Polish battle group.
The task force area of operations is more than 30,000 square miles — about the size of South Carolina — 1,507 miles of which are along the border with Pakistan. The population in their area is 10 million, and there are 32 forward operating bases, 27 combat outposts and 29 observation posts.
There are about 28,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and in the spring the Pentagon will send about 3,200 Marines to boost combat power in the south, where most of the international coalition is located and where the Taliban have begun regaining strength.
Still, Votel said, "If someone asked me for the things that I need here in Afghanistan, I don't think I would initially ask for three more combat infantry brigades. There might be some additional forces we need ... to help with training and partner with the Afghan national security forces. There probably are some additional security duties that we need. But what we really need is the extra help with the big strategic problems," Votel said.
He dispelled the notion of a "spring offensive" in which insurgents resume an increased pace of attacks when the snow melts.
Rather, he said, "it's a natural cycle ... it happens every year.
"I don't think they have the capacity to put together an offensive. In our area, they've probably done 10 large-scale attacks with more than 30 fighters at one time," he said. "And every time they've done that, they have gotten mauled, I mean, annihilated, in some cases without even getting a shot off."
The insurgents operate under a variety of leaders and will coordinate to plant roadside bombs and other improvised explosive devices, and conduct suicide attacks to disrupt highway movement.
In the next year, Votel expects that Regional Command-East will be able to add more than 5,000 additional Afghan soldiers in two new brigades, along with more border and district police.
© 2008, Army Times Publishing Company
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