US general says Afghan withdrawal years away

Acknowledging waning public support for the conflict, Gen James Conway cited a fellow commander's assessment that "we can either lose fast or win slow".

WASHINGTON // The head of the US Marine Corps says a "turnover" to Afghan forces in key southern provinces will not be possible for "a few years," despite a July 2011 deadline for the start of a US drawdown. General James Conway's comments were the latest sign from US military leaders that a major troop withdrawal remained a long way off, despite a mid-2011 deadline set by President Barack Obama for the start of a pullout. "I honestly think it will be a few years before conditions on the ground are such that turnover will be possible for us," General James Conway told reporters, referring to Marines deployed in the provinces of Helmand and Kandahar. Conway, who just returned from Afghanistan, said some Afghan units "somewhere" might be able to assume the lead for security in 2011 but not in the south, which he called the "birthplace" of the Taliban insurgency. "And I think there's a mindset that needs to accompany that on the part of our Marines, that it may be a while," he said. Conway acknowledged that public support for the US mission was declining but warned of the risks of any early withdrawal. "I sense our country is increasingly growing tired of the war," he said. Conway appealed for patience, citing a fellow commander's assessment that "we can either lose fast or win slow." The last units of a surge of 30,000 reinforcements had only arrived in Afghanistan this month, he said. "We have the momentum. We have the initiative, but that's different from declaring that security conditions are changed dramatically in Helmand," he said. The general said the administration needed to do a better job of explaining the mission to Americans and the importance of preventing al Qa'eda from regaining a foothold in the country. Asked to specify how many years US forces might have to stay in southern Afghanistan, Conway said he could not offer a forecast. However, he said the Kabul government's efforts to promote reconciliation with the insurgents could dramatically alter the conflict and the NATO-led mission. An armed uprising against the Taliban, similar to Sunni tribes taking on al Qa'eda in Iraq, was unlikely in Afghanistan, but "reconciliation could be a game-changer," he said. Conway spoke a day after the US general in charge of training Afghan forces played down prospects for a major transfer of security duties to the Afghans for at least another year, three months after the July 2011 target date. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has suggested any troop reduction after mid-2011 would be modest, but he has also held out the possibility of Afghan troops taking over security in some districts by the end of the year. With casualties mounting, Obama's fellow Democrats in Congress are increasingly anxious over the course of the nearly nine-year-old war, and many want to see a substantial reduction in the US commitment after mid-2011. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said Tuesday one of its soldiers was killed while fighting Taliban-linked insurgents in the south. The death brings to 457 the toll of international soldiers killed in the Afghan war so far this year, compared with 520 for the whole of last year. Twelve international soldiers have been killed since Saturday, according to an AFP tally based on the icasualties.org website, seven of them Americans. * Agence France-Presse