Dem leader wants 'successful' plan for Afghanistan

[September 09, 2009]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- House and Senate lawmakers are expressing increasing skepticism over the prospect of ordering thousands more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, saying they want to see strong evidence that such an increase would dislodge insurgents from safe havens there and in neighboring Pakistan.

"We'll want to see a plan, a plan that members conclude can be successful," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters Tuesday.

Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said it's far from clear that the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan can succeed, "despite the enormous bravery of our troops and talent of military leaders."

"I just don't know if this is doable," Collins, R-Maine, said. "I don't know that we can achieve the goal of a stable, secure Afghanistan that is freed from the Taliban and is no longer a safe haven for al-Qaida."

The building congressional caution comes amid what several senior Obama administration officials described as a rigorous internal debate inside the White House over whether sending more troops can clear Afghanistan of violent extremists and stabilize Pakistan.

Fifty-one American troops died in Afghanistan in August, making it the bloodiest month for the U.S. since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that toppled the ruling Taliban.

In an interview Tuesday with the Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, "There are issues on both sides of it, and frankly, I haven't made up my own mind at this point in terms of whether I think more forces are needed."

At the White House, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that President Barack Obama is not expecting a request for additional forces from the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, for several more weeks.

Gibbs said Obama "will take into account the degree to which additional resources can be borne, not just by the public but also by those who are providing the resources. Obviously, there's been a tremendous strain on our military forces over the past several years."

Ranking members of congressional military oversight committees said they expected the Pentagon to brief them this week on McChrystal's classified assessment of the situation in Afghanistan. McChrystal is believed to have made the case for sending more troops -- even without asking for specific numbers.

Earlier this year, Obama ordered 21,000 more troops to Afghanistan, which will bring the total number of U.S. forces there to 68,000 by the end of 2009.

The Obama administration also is grappling with the many allegations of vote fraud in the Aug. 20 Afghan presidential election. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters the U.S. is not in position to say who might eventually be declared the winner or whether there should be a runoff election between the top two finishers. Afghan officials Tuesday released new returns that give President Hamid Karzai 54 percent of the vote with nearly all ballots tallied.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, told Karzai, "Dont declare victory."

Kelly said the most important thing is that the allegations of fraud be addressed in a way that gives ordinary Afghans confidence that the outcome of the voting is legitimate.

[Associated Press; By LARA JAKES]

Associated Press writers Pauline Jelinek and Robert Burns contributed to this report.

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