Voicing cautious optimism, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan
said Tuesday that he's seeing some signs of a possible lifting of
Pakistan's communications blackout imposed on the U.S.-led coalition
after NATO airstrikes killed two dozen Pakistani forces last month.
Marine
Gen. John Allen revealed for the first time that he spoke on the phone
Monday with Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani — their first
conversation since the airstrikes — and that they both expressed a
commitment to work through the incident and try to restore coordination
between their forces along the border.
"I do have a sense of
progress," Allen told reporters at a news briefing at Camp Eggers in
Kabul, describing the phone call as businesslike and cordial. "The
conversation was clearly about attempting to resolve the issue ...
around the border incident, in the sense that, lets restore border
coordination so that we can move on."
He added that he believes
Pakistan will soon send its liaison officers, who were pulled after the
Nov. 26 incident, back to the border coordination centers and/or NATO
headquarters in Kabul. Allen said the two did not discuss when Pakistan
would reopen its border crossings to NATO convoys transporting supplies
for troops in Afghanistan.
Allen's made his comments shortly after
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived for an unannounced visit to
Afghanistan to talk with his commanders, including plans for an update
on U.S. relations with Pakistan. His visit comes as the U.S. grapples
with the chilly relationship, as well as ongoing plans for the
withdrawal of 23,000 more troops in the coming year, the transition of
security to Afghan forces, and the impact of expected, massive budget
cuts on the military.
Panetta's trip to Afghanistan is the second
stop on a holiday tour that began in the Horn of Africa Tuesday morning
and will also take him to Iraq, Libya and Turkey. He will be the first
U.S. defense chief to visit Libya, which is emerging from an eight-month
civil war. In Iraq, he will participate in a ceremony that will shut
down the U.S. military mission there after nearly nine years of war.
Panetta's
arrival in Kabul comes on the heels of Pakistan's decision to move air
defense systems to the border with Afghanistan, part of its response to
the NATO airstrikes last month that killed two dozen Pakistani forces.
Pakistan has also closed two border crossings that are part of key
supply routes into Afghanistan and recalled its troops from two border
coordination posts.
The supply routes carry roughly 30 percent of
the fuel, food and other items needed for troops in Afghanistan. The
blockades have force the U.S. to used alternative northern routes into
Afghanistan that are more costly and take longer.
While both Allen
and Panetta said U.S. troops in Afghanistan will get the supplies they
need, the plummeting relationship with Pakistan complicates an already
difficult war just as the Obama administration is trying to boast of
security gains across broad swaths of the country.
Panetta and
Allen also both spoke optimistically about the security progress in
Afghanistan. And Allen said he believes the shift of additional forces
to the combative eastern border in the coming months will improve
security there — possibly over a shorter time period than the two years
it took to make substantive progress in the south.
"I think 2011
will make a turning point with regards to the effort in Afghanistan,"
Panetta told reporters traveling with him to Kabul. He cited lower
levels of violence and the successful turnover of portions of the
country to Afghan control. "Clearly I think Afghanistan is on a much
better track in terms of our ability to eventually transition to an
Afghanistan that can govern and secure itself."
Panetta said Allen
reassured him that military operations are continuing along the
Afghanistan-Pakistan border, despite the problems with Pakistan.
"I
think it's been said a number of times," said Panetta. "Ultimately we
can't win the war in Afghanistan without being able to win in our
relationship with Pakistan as well."
Allen was ordered by Obama
last summer to pull out 10,000 U.S. forces by the end of this year and
23,000 more by the end of September 2012. There have been some rumblings
that the administration may consider accelerating that drawdown, with
an eye toward handing more control to the Afghans and shifting U.S.
troops into more of an advise-and-assist role.
Allen said Tuesday
that the U.S. troops will begin to move into the advisory role next
year, stepping back from their current counterinsurgency mission with
Afghan forces. Over time, U.S. and NATO forces would provide training
and guidance, air support, and other assistance as the Afghan troops
take the lead.
In the east, where insurgents launch attacks
against troops from sanctuaries in Pakistan, the battle is expected to
get more fierce.
Allen said he expects the U.S. will be conducting
significant counterinsurgency operations in the east in the next year.
The commander, however, would not provide details on the expected troop
withdrawals, or any plans for strategy changes as the year goes on.
The
battlefield decisions are also complicated by the budget showdown in
Washington. The Pentagon could face as much as $1 trillion in cuts over
the next 10 years if lawmakers can't come to an agreement on the budget.
On
his historic Libya trip, Panetta said the U.S. wants to help Libyans
move in the right direction as the people take back their country. With
military assistance from the U.S. and NATO, Libyans ousted and later
killed longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi earlier this year.
Panetta's
plan to visit Libya comes amid ongoing violence there, including recent
clashes between revolutionary fighters and national army troops near
Tripoli's airport. AP
