The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan warns in an urgent, confidential assessment of the war that he needs more forces within the next year and bluntly states that without them, the eight-year conflict "will likely result in failure," according to a copy of the 66-page document obtained by The Washington Post.
Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal says emphatically: "Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near-term (next 12 months) -- while Afghan security capacity matures -- risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible."
His assessment was sent to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Aug. 30 and is now being reviewed by President Obama and his national security team.
McChrystal concludes the document's five-page Commander's Summary on a note of muted optimism: "While the situation is serious, success is still achievable."
But he repeatedly warns that without more forces and the rapid implementation of a genuine counterinsurgency strategy, defeat is likely. McChrystal describes an Afghan government riddled with corruption and an international force undermined by tactics that alienate civilians.
He provides extensive new details about the Taliban insurgency, which he calls a muscular and sophisticated enemy that uses modern propaganda and systematically reaches into Afghanistan's prisons to recruit members and even plan operations.
McChrystal's assessment is one of several options the White House is considering. His plan could intensify a national debate in which leading Democratic lawmakers have expressed reluctance about committing more troops to an increasingly unpopular war. Obama said last week that he will not decide whether to send more troops until he has "absolute clarity about what the strategy is going to be."
The commander has prepared a separate detailed request for additional troops and other resources, but defense officials have said he is awaiting instructions before sending it to the Pentagon.
Senior administration officials asked The Post over the weekend to withhold brief portions of the assessment that they said could compromise future operations. A declassified version of the document, with some deletions made at the government's request, appears at washingtonpost.com.
McChrystal makes clear that his call for more forces is predicated on the adoption of a strategy in which troops emphasize protecting Afghans rather than killing insurgents or controlling territory. Most starkly, he says: "[I]nadequate resources will likely result in failure. However, without a new strategy, the mission should not be resourced."
'Widespread Corruption'
The assessment offers an unsparing critique of the failings of the Afghan government, contending that official corruption is as much of a threat as the insurgency to the mission of the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, as the U.S.-led NATO coalition is widely known.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials, and ISAF's own errors, have given Afghans little reason to support their government," McChrystal says.
Gordon Brown: "creo que la decisión que estamos anunciado es consistente con lo que los americanos decidirán".


El Primer Ministro del Reino Unido, Gordon Brown, ha anunciado que un total de 500 soldados británicos serán enviados a Afganistán; esto se sumaría a las ya 9.000 tropas británicas desplegadas en territorio afgano.

"Creo que la decisión que estamos anunciado es consistente con lo que los americanos decidirán", declaró Brown ayer. Su decisión fue aparentemente hecha a fin de "corresponder las demandas cambiantes de la campaña, que requiere mayor concentración de nuestras fuerzas en la Provincia de Helmand".

Un pedido para enviar un adicional de 2.000 tropas había sido rechazado previamente.

Tras su declaración, reportes de los medios sugirieron que la decisión fue hecha basándose en el consentimiento de los Estados Unidos en enviar al menos 45.000 –aunque no más de 65.000– tropas adicionales a Afganistán. La Casa Blanca luego negó que se hubiera llegado a un acuerdo, o que el presidente Barack Obama hubiera alcanzado alguna decisión con respecto a enviar más tropas.

"No pondría ningún peso detrás del hecho de que una decisión haya sido hecha, cuando el presidente aún debe tomar una decisión. He visto el reporte. No es cierto, ni en general ni específicamente. El presidente no ha tomado una decisión", informó el Secretario de Prensa, Robert Gibbs, en un comunicado emitido por la Casa Blanca.

En septiembre se reportó que el General comandante en Afganistán, Stanley A. McChrystal, había solicitado que se enviara un total de 40.000 soldados más a Afganistán. "Fallar en lograr la iniciativa y revertir el aceleramiento insurgente en un corto plazo –mientras que la capacidad de seguridad afgana madura– arriesga un desenlace en el que derrotar a la insurgencia no sea posible". Esta solicitud, según informó el ''Washington Post'', fue enviada a la Casa Blanca en agosto y Obama se encuentra analizándola.

Actualmente hay alrededor de 70.000 efectivos norteamericanos en Afganistán, junto con otras 35.000 tropas provenientes de otros países.