Nov 7, 2009, 15:12 GMT
Hamburg/Brussels - US officials speaking about the future US role in Afghanistan Saturday presented a mixed image of US policy plans for further engagement in the wartorn country.
White House national security adviser General James Jones voiced strong scepticism about boosting troop levels in Afghanistan, warning that the conflict could 'swallow them up,' the German weekly Der Spiegel reported in its latest edition.
However, Michele Flournoy, US undersecretary of defence, said in Brussels, after consultations with nations participating in international military efforts in Afghanistan, that the US is 'increasing its commitment' to the country.
The Obama administration has been reviewing the situation for weeks as the public mood against the operation in Afghanistan turns sour, despite President Barack Obama having made stabilizing Afghanistan a priority during his presidential campaign.
In his interview, Jones was commenting on requests by General Stanley McChrystal, commander of international forces in Afghanistan, for a further 40,000 soldiers in the face of the battle against resurgent Taliban militants.
'Generals always ask for more troops. Take it from me,' Jones, who is President Barack Obama's national security adviser, said in remarks carried Saturday on Spiegel's online site.
'I believe we will not solve the problem with troops alone. The minimum number is important, of course. But there is no maximum number, however,' he argued.
'You can keep on putting troops in, and you could have 200,000 troops there and Afghanistan will swallow them up as it has done in the past,' Jones added in remarks certain to heat up the debate in the US about the best strategy course for the Afghan conflict.
In the Spiegel interview, Jones argued that instead of engaging in so-called nation-building by the foreign forces, responsibility must be transferred as soon as possible to Afghanistan.
'We need a better plan with the allies to gradually turn over responsibility for the country to Afghan institutions and organizations in as short a time as possible,' he said.
Flournoy said that a decision out of the US on troop levels would be coming in 'a couple or maybe a few weeks,' according to a transcript of comments provided by the US mission to NATO.
'We're really fine tuning our thinking on how best to achieve our core goals and how to work closely with our allies and our partners to do so,' she said. 'No one is talking about leaving Afghanistan or even standing pat.
'We are increasing our commitment and we're talking about how best to do that with both civilian and military resources.'
In his interview, Jones said he did not know when troop withdrawals might be possible.
'I don't know when that will be. But I do know that our president and other leaders are very insistent on doing everything that we can to make sure that it happens sooner rather than later. That we can in fact, begin to turn over responsibility to the Afghans.'
Spiegel said Jones, in the interview, emphasized several times that it was now time for Kabul to take care of the country.
'If they want the promise of a democratic society and peace and stability, better opportunities for their children then this government and all of the governors have to do a much better job than they have done so far,' he said.
Flournoy said she was in Brussels to share ideas with allies in Afghanistan on how to proceed in the campaign there. She said she had gathereed 'a lot of good ideas' and was going to take them back to Washington for consultation.
'This is a team effort and we needed to have their input in our decision-making process,' she said.
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