Fewer Afghan troops could mean more Taliban violence

Reducing the number of Afghan security forces could lead to an increase in Taliban violence inside that country as U.S. forces prepare to leave by the end of 2014, Army Gen. Lloyd Austin said Thursday.

Austin was testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee during a hearing to confirm him as the next top U.S. commander to oversee military operations in the Middle East. Austin said keeping a larger Afghan force would allow the Afghan government to mature under a bigger security umbrella.

Currently, the U.S.-led NATO operation has plans to reduce the number of Afghan forces from about 352,000 to around 230,000 after U.S. troops leave in 2014.

Afghan security forces were beefed up to improve security in tandem with the surge of U.S. troops in 2009. The larger number of Afghan troops would be too expensive to maintain and would eventually have to be reduced as security improved around the country, according to the NATO plan.

"A larger Afghan force would help to hedge against any future Taliban mischief, and you could reasonably expect that an enemy that has been that determined, that agile, that very soon after we transition will begin to test the Afghan security forces," Austin told the Senate panel Thursday.

Austin, who did not participate in the Obama administration's recent decision to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan by 34,000 within the next year, refused to give his opinion on whether the plan was a good idea when lawmakers asked.

In what has become a typical show with recent Obama nominees vetted by the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, offered some political theater as he asked Austin his opinion on the reduction of American troops in Afghanistan.

Austin was cut off mid-sentence by McCain when he said he would defer to the current commander's assessment. After sarcastically asking Austin the question again, McCain turned to Army Gen. David Rodriguez, who was also at the hearing as the nominee to be the next commander of U.S. military operations in Africa, what he thought of the Afghan plan because he used to be the commander in Afghanistan.

Rodriguez also refused to answer, saying he had left the command some 18 months ago and did not have a current assessment of the country.

Exasperated, McCain let out a giant sigh in what appeared to be disbelief that he could not get an answer.

Source: http://www.wdsu.com/news/national/Fewer-Afghan-troops-could-mean-more-Taliban-violence/-/9853500/18555300/-/pkfwie/-/index.html?absolute=true

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