AP: Commander Wants Afghan Tours Extended

Associated Press
Commander Wants Afghan Tours Extended
By ROBERT BURNS 01.16.07, 3:33 PM ET

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Tuesday he wants to extend the
combat tours of 1,200 soldiers amid rising violence, and Defense Secretary Robert
Gates said he was "strongly inclined" to recommend a troop increase to President
Bush if commanders believe it is needed.

Gates also said Pakistan must act to stem an increasing flow of Taliban fighters into
Afghanistan as U.S. military officials cited new evidence that the Pakistani military,
which has long-standing ties to the Taliban movement, has turned a blind eye to the
incursions.

The prospect of a troop increase in Afghanistan, at the same time Bush is ordering
21,500 more troops into Iraq, raises new questions about the military's ability to
sustain its war-fighting on two major fronts. There now are about 24,000 U.S. troops
in Afghanistan, which Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the senior American commander here,
said is the highest since the war began in October 2001.

It also raises questions about the future course of the war in Afghanistan, which the
United States is increasingly handing off to NATO forces. Of the 31,000 troops here
under NATO command, about 11,000 are American. The United States has an additional
12,000 or 13,000 to hunt down al-Qaida terrorists and to train the Afghan army.

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