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The Pentagon and government of Afghanistan cannot afford a permanent increase to the end strength of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), Defense Secretary Robert Gates told senators Feb. 17.
To that end, Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee that any increase beyond the ANSF's current manning levels should be viewed as temporary.
President Obama's administration is contemplating a request to increase the ANSF end strength to between 352,000 and 378,000 troops, according to Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who appeared with Gates at the Senate hearing to discuss the Pentagon's fiscal 2012 budget request. The ANSF should have 305,000 troops by the end of this year. The training of these troops has improved greatly in the last year, according to Mullen.
But Gates questioned the sustainability of a force that could increase by more than 70,000.
"How big an [Afghan] Army can we afford, because, let's not kid ourselves, nobody else is contributing to this in any significant way," he said. The Overseas Contingency Operations portion of the Pentagon 2012 budget request contains $12.8 billion to pay for the ANSF, a figure the Pentagon "can't sustain ... for many years," Gates said.
"The international community and Afghanistan cannot afford a force of 375,000 ANSF indefinitely," he said. "We have to think of this, I think, more as a surge for Afghans, and with a political settlement and with the degrading of the Taliban perhaps the size of the ANSF can come down to a point where it's more affordable for us and for everybody else."
Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., said he supports the increase and has spoken to Obama twice about the issue. Having more ANSF troops could save money in the long run, since, theoretically, fewer U.S. troops would be needed in Afghanistan, according to Levin.
"We are still very much in discussion inside the administration on where this comes out," Mullen said. Gates said he expects the administration to make a decision on the proposed increase "in the fairly near future."
No Permanent Hike in Size of Afghan Forces: Gates - Defense News
To that end, Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee that any increase beyond the ANSF's current manning levels should be viewed as temporary.
President Obama's administration is contemplating a request to increase the ANSF end strength to between 352,000 and 378,000 troops, according to Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who appeared with Gates at the Senate hearing to discuss the Pentagon's fiscal 2012 budget request. The ANSF should have 305,000 troops by the end of this year. The training of these troops has improved greatly in the last year, according to Mullen.
But Gates questioned the sustainability of a force that could increase by more than 70,000.
"How big an [Afghan] Army can we afford, because, let's not kid ourselves, nobody else is contributing to this in any significant way," he said. The Overseas Contingency Operations portion of the Pentagon 2012 budget request contains $12.8 billion to pay for the ANSF, a figure the Pentagon "can't sustain ... for many years," Gates said.
"The international community and Afghanistan cannot afford a force of 375,000 ANSF indefinitely," he said. "We have to think of this, I think, more as a surge for Afghans, and with a political settlement and with the degrading of the Taliban perhaps the size of the ANSF can come down to a point where it's more affordable for us and for everybody else."
Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., said he supports the increase and has spoken to Obama twice about the issue. Having more ANSF troops could save money in the long run, since, theoretically, fewer U.S. troops would be needed in Afghanistan, according to Levin.
"We are still very much in discussion inside the administration on where this comes out," Mullen said. Gates said he expects the administration to make a decision on the proposed increase "in the fairly near future."
No Permanent Hike in Size of Afghan Forces: Gates - Defense News