U.S. Questions Viability Of Expanding ISAF

A new U.S. State Department strategy report obtained yesterday by Agence France-Presse indicates the United States may still oppose expanding the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

Citing prohibitive "logistical and command burdens" and calling on Afghans themselves to address their country's long-term security needs, the report contradicts recent statements by senior officials in President George W. Bush's administration indicating a softening of longstanding U.S. opposition to expanding ISAF beyond Kabul, the only place it is currently deployed.

According to the report, despite a round of recent attacks and bomb scares in Kabul, the 4,700-soldier ISAF is doing an "exceptional" job. "However, scaling up ISAF to cover a country the size of Afghanistan would pose significant logistical and command burdens," the report reads. "Providing security to the rural hinterlands in Afghanistan would be almost impossible for any outside force."

"It is ... up to Afghans themselves to extend security to all of Afghanistan through an effective and responsible national army," the report reads. "It is imperative that the armed regional leaders provide short-term security as a first condition for securing their national identity."

According to a State Department official, the report does not completely rule out the idea of ISAF expansion. "In looking at the expansion issue, you have got to keep in mind what a new mission would be," the official said, calling for a "realistic" approach. "You just don't say you are going to make ISAF bigger."

House of Representatives International Relations Committee member Tom Lantos said the report contradicts the Bush administration's statements on the issue. "In fighting Osama bin Laden's minions in Afghanistan, the president has shown decisive leadership," Lantos said. "In winning the peace, however, this administration's record has not measured up" (AFP/Yahoo! News, Sept. 18).

Hilmi Akin Zorlu of Turkey, the current head of the 20-country force, said yesterday that he does not believe the force will extend its reach to areas outside Kabul. He cited little will on the part of troop-contributing countries and those providing funding. "None of the member nations of the U.N. Security Council would like to provide either troops or funding or take a resolution on that issue (expansion), so I don't see such an expansion" in the short term, he said. "Maybe in the medium or long term."

According to Zorlu, expanding ISAF would require more combat troops and air support, not just the dispatch of small units to urban centers other than Kabul. The ISAF chief insisted, however, that the force "must continue" into next year. Zorlu added that he believes Germany will take over the ISAF command when Turkey's stint ends Dec. 20 (Mike Collett-White, Reuters/Swissinfo, Sept. 17).

In other news, an ISAF spokesman said yesterday that a fuel tanker with dynamite attached to it, stopped over the weekend by ISAF and Afghan forces, was attempting to target Bagram air base, the headquarters of U.S. forces in the country. Two men in the truck were arrested when it was stopped at a checkpoint Saturday (Todd Pitman, Associated Press/Boston Globe, September 18, 2002).