U.S. Defense Secretary in Afghanistan on Farewell Visit
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates flew into Kabul on Saturday for a farewell visit to Afghanistan after four and a half years of heading up the war effort at the Pentagon.
Gates is expected to visit some of the roughly 90,000 U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan as part of a 130,000-strong U.S.-led international force trying to stabilize the country and reverse a nearly 10-year Taliban insurgency.
His visit comes with the United States expected to start troop withdrawals in July and as the White House debates the scale and pace of a drawdown a decade into an increasingly unpopular war.
But he told reporters aboard his plane en route to the Afghan capital that the amount of money the United States spends on the war -- roughly $120 billion a year -- should not shape the decision on how fast the drawdown happens.
Some U.S. officials and lawmakers say this should be a key factor amid a fragile domestic economy in a debate stepped up since U.S. Navy SEALs found and killed al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden in neighboring Pakistan on May 2.
"I think that once you've committed, that success of the mission should override everything else. Because the most costly thing of all would be to fail," Gates said.
"Now that does not preclude adjustments in the mission or in the strategy. But ultimately the objective has to be success in the mission that's been set forth by the president."
The killing of the al-Qaida supreme last month has fuelled calls for a reassessment of the war effort, with skeptics questioning the rationale for retaining large numbers of boots on the ground.
U.S. troops led the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan after the then Taliban regime refused to hand over bin Laden in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks blamed on al-Qaida.
There are now signs that U.S. officials are increasingly hoping for a negotiated settlement to the conflict.
On Saturday in Singapore, Gates said military pressure on the Taliban could lead to "real opportunities" for peace talks with Afghan insurgent leaders during the next year.
But on the plane, Gates said the decision on the drawdown would have to include a longer-term blueprint on force levels.
U.S. President Barack Obama has "made a commitment that we will begin this process next month", Gates said.
"But obviously as we look ahead, we're going to have to think about sort of the next year or two in terms of where we are."
He said the draw down decision would have to take into account the possible effect on allies and declining public support for the war.
"We have to weigh the impact potentially on our allies of what we decide. We certainly don't want to precipitate a rush for the exits by our partners," he said.
"By the same token, you can't be oblivious to the growing war weariness at home and the diminishing support in the Congress.
"So I think these are all things that the president will have to weigh."
Source: Agence France Presse
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