Statement on Afghanistan Visit by Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Senators Jack Reed and Jon Tester

Statement

On Sunday, we returned from traveling to Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen. The purpose of the Afghanistan visit was to see how our counterinsurgency strategy there is working and whether we are on track for the July 2011 date for transitioning increased security responsibility to the Government of Afghanistan and starting reductions in U.S. forces at that time.

There are signs of significant progress from six months ago, when two of us visited Afghanistan, although great challenges remain.

During our two-day visit, we met with senior U.S. and NATO civilian and military leadership, including U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, U.S. and NATO Commander General David Petraeus, and NATO Senior Civilian Representative Mark Sedwill. We also met with senior Afghan civilian and military security officials, including Minister of Defense Abdul Raheem Wardak and Chief of Staff of the Afghan Army General Sher Mahammad Karimi.

A major sign of progress since last July is that U.S., Afghan and coalition forces have reversed the insurgents' momentum in key terrain in southern Afghanistan, regaining control of former Taliban strongholds in Helmand and Kandahar provinces. The Afghan people are coming back to the towns in the central Helmand River Valley and starting to rebuild their lives. Also, in the key Arghandab District outside Kandahar City, we toured a joint U.S.-Afghan military headquarters, joint operations center and district government center overlooking the Arghandab River where some of the heaviest fighting had occurred last fall. The Afghan people move far more freely now through this area. Afghan forces are increasingly in the lead in joint operations in fighting for additional territory. Ongoing protection of the population once territory is cleared of Taliban is mainly provided by Afghan army and police.

Another sign of progress since last July is that the Afghan people have greater confidence in the ability of Afghan and Coalition forces to provide security and are showing increasing support for Afghan and coalition forces. In the Arghandab district, a dramatic increase in the number of tips from Afghan locals is enabling Afghan and coalition forces to find and clear a significantly increased percentage of improvised explosive devices. Villagers are signing up for the expanding Afghan Local Police program, which empowers communities to create their own protection force answerable to the local elders and under the oversight of the Ministry of Interior.

Public support for the Afghan National Army (ANA) remains high. Even the Afghan National Police (ANP), which has had a reputation for corruption, are gaining support in the most recent Afghan public opinion polls. As this support grows, lower-level insurgent fighters are slowly beginning to reintegrate into Afghan society.

The decision by President Obama to accelerate the transition of security responsibility to the Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF) and to begin a drawdown of U.S. forces, starting in July 2011, has served as a forcing mechanism for the Government and people of Afghanistan. The decision of the NATO Alliance at the November Summit in Lisbon to set the end of 2014 for the completion of the transfer of the lead responsibility for security throughout Afghanistan to the ANSF has served to assure the Government and people of Afghanistan that the coalition will continue to stand with them.

In 2010, the ANSF grew by 70,000, enabled by the surge in U.S. and coalition trainers. There continues to be no shortage of new recruits into the ANA and the ANP. Lieutenant General Bill Caldwell, commander of the NATO Training Mission -- Afghanistan (NTM-A), told us that the ANA and ANP are on track to meet the goals of 171,000 soldiers and 134,000 police by October of this year.

This growth in the quantity of ANSF is accompanied by a growth in quality. NTM-A has focused on improving the marksmanship, training, literacy, and leadership development of the Afghan Army and police. NTM-A has also taken significant steps to successfully decrease attrition and increase retention over the last year. NTM-A has declared 2011 the "Year of the Afghan Trainer" to focus on training Afghan trainers in preparation for transitioning the training mission more and more to an Afghan lead.

The transition of security responsibility to Afghan forces, particularly after the July 2011 date set by President Obama, will place even greater demands on the Afghan security forces. The shift from "clearing" to "holding" areas formerly controlled by the insurgents will increasingly be the job of the Afghan Army and police to lead and carry out. To increase their chances of success in this transition and beyond, the Afghan Army and police will require more in terms of numbers, capabilities, and enablers needed for sustainment.

The Administration is currently considering a proposal to grow the ANA by about 35,000 to 208,000 and the ANP by a similar amount to 170,000 by 2012, for a total of 378,000 ANSF personnel. We strongly support the proposed increase in the size of both the Afghan Army and police because it will reinforce and sustain the transition of lead responsibility for the country's security to the Afghan security forces. We were told during our visit that is a great fear of the Taliban. We believe that a proposed increase in the size and capability of the Afghan security forces is a key part of the ticket to success of our mission and is also the ticket to faster reductions of U.S. troops starting in July. Increasing the size and capability of the Afghan security forces is also far less costly in terms of U.S. casualties and tax payer cost than keeping large numbers of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. We urge approval of the proposed increase of ANSF personnel. Compared to the situation in Iraq, where 665,000 Iraqi security forces provide security to a population of 27 million, an Afghan security force of 378,000 to protect Afghanistan's population of over 30 million constitutes a basic and justified requirement.

Afghan governance remains a significant challenge. Leaders like the District Governor in Arghandab and the Kandahar Provincial Governor are making progress in connecting local Afghan communities with district- and provincial-level governments. However, the central government in Kabul continues to fail to provide sufficient assistance down to the provincial, district or local levels.

Finally, we want to recognize the extraordinary job our men and women are doing in Afghanistan. We have asked them to carry out a monumental task under difficult circumstances, yet their morale is high. We greatly appreciate their dedication, hard work, and sacrifice, and the sacrifices of their families who support them.

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