The United States calls Osama bin Laden's death a potential "game changer" in
Afghanistan, but has also begun to modulate its message for fear that runaway
optimism will create pressure to suddenly exit a war still up for grabs.
The top U.S. commander in eastern Afghanistan sought to walk that fine line
Tuesday. Army Maj. Gen. John Campbell told reporters at the Pentagon that he
sees great potential for bin Laden's death to draw dispirited Taliban fighters
away from the insurgency.
Videos of bin Laden that were captured in the raid on his compound and
released by the U.S. government on Saturday depict a gray-bearded bin Laden
wrapped in a blanket, watching himself on TV. Campbell described him as "alone
and desperate" and said the image could send a powerful message to Taliban
fighters who bear the brunt of combat while their leaders hide in Pakistan.
"I think the insurgents are going to see this and say, 'Hey, why am I doing
this?'" Campbell said.
As President Barack Obama nears a decision on the size and pace of U.S. troop
withdrawals that he has promised will begin in July, the administration is
hopeful that the elimination of bin Laden will deal a wider psychological blow
to the Taliban and other insurgent groups associated with al-Qaida. But it
believes that a sudden troop pullout would risk losing the war.
In a Congress struggling to reduce the deficit, war-weary lawmakers are
clamoring for the U.S. to shrink its presence in Afghanistan. The war tab for
American taxpayers now stands at $10 billion a month as the conflict approaches
the 10-year mark. Bin Laden's death, widely cheered in the U.S. as a historic
achievement, has given stronger voice to those calling for troop
withdrawals.
"Osama Bin Laden's death was more than a critical triumph in our fight
against terrorism. It provides a potentially game-changing opportunity to build
momentum for a political solution in Afghanistan that could bring greater
stability to the region and bring our troops home," Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.,
chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, told a hearing Tuesday.
Kerry rejected a "precipitous withdrawal" but argued for working toward "the
smallest footprint necessary, a presence that puts Afghans in charge — and
presses them to step up to that task — at the same time that it secures our
interests and accomplishes our mission of destroying al-Qaida and preventing
Afghanistan from ever again becoming a terrorist sanctuary."
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said he hopes Obama decides to pull out a
significant number of troops this summer. But he said calls for all troops to
leave by a fixed deadline are not supported by a majority of Democrats in
Congress.
"I've urged the president to have a significant drawdown in July because it's
supposed to be a message of urgency to the Afghans as to taking responsibility
for their own security and it's not going to be an urgent message if it's not
significant," Levin said.
In a letter Monday to Obama, eight House Republicans and Democrats wrote that
eliminating bin Laden "does not change the reality that America still faces a
determined and violent adversary. It does, however, require us to re-examine our
policy of nation building in Afghanistan. We believe it is no longer the best
way to defend America against terror attacks, and we urge you to withdraw all
troops from Afghanistan that are not crucial to the immediate national security
objective of combating al-Qaida."
The bin Laden death has also presented new opportunities as well as problems
for Pakistan. The U.S. seeks Pakistan as an important ally in combating Islamic
extremism, even as the Pakistanis are suspected of tolerating or even supporting
the Taliban and the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, which is especially active
in fighting U.S. and Afghan forces in eastern Afghanistan.
Having found and killed bin Laden deep inside Pakistan — with evidence that
he had lived there for at least five years, almost next-door to a Pakistani
military academy — the U.S. is using that as leverage to force the Pakistanis to
take stronger action against the Haqqani network and the Taliban, whose longtime
leader, Mullah Omar, is believed to operate from the Pakistani city of
Quetta.
"We're going to need some help from Pakistan," Campbell said.
Kerry will travel to Pakistan and Afghanistan in the coming days in what
would be the first such trip by a senior lawmaker since the bin Laden operation,
U.S. officials said. Kerry has been a champion of U.S. aid to Pakistan and the
Obama administration has in the past asked him to smooth tensions with
Islamabad.
Kerry's office would not confirm his travel to Pakistan, citing security
reasons. The senator said last week he would visit Afghanistan this weekend.
Among the issues in play is a U.S. request to interview three women who were
inside the al-Qaida leader's compound at the time he was killed. They were left
behind when the U.S. raiders took bin Laden's body; they have been in Pakistani
custody since.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. is seeking access to "a
variety of sources of information ... related to bin Laden's house and people
there and we believe we are going to get there."
Asked about possible U.S. troop withdrawals, Campbell declined to discuss
specifics. Officials have said Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. and NATO
commander in Afghanistan, has yet to submit his recommendations on troop
withdrawals to the Pentagon.
Campbell was emphatic, however, that the bin Laden death should not lead to a
sudden U.S. pullout.
"I don't think the war is over," he said. AP
