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: "acredito que a decisão que estamos anunciando é consistente com o que os estadunidenses decidiram".


O Primeiro-Ministro do Reino Unido, , anunciou que um total de 500 soldados britânicos serão enviados ao Afeganistão; estes se somariam às 9.000 tropas britânicas já implantadas em território afegão.

"Acredito que a decisão que estamos anunciando é consistente com o que os estadunidenses decidiram", declarou Brown ontem. Sua decisão foi aparentemente feita com a finalidade de "corresponder as demandas alteradas da campanha, que requer maior concentrção de nossas forças na a Província de Helmand".

Um pedido para enviar um adicional de 2.000 tropas havia sido rejeitado anteriormente.

Após a sua declaração, repórtes dos meios sugeriram que a decisão foi feita baseando-se no consentimento dos Estados Unidos ao enviar pelo menos 45.000 –ainda que não mais de 65.000– tropas adicionais ao Afeganistão. A  logo negou que foi alcançado um acordo, e que o presidente  alcançou alguma decisão sobre enviar mais tropas.



Em setembro relatou-se quye o General comandante no Afeganistão, Stanley A. McChrystal, havia solicitado que fosse enviado um total de 40 000 soldados ao Afeganistão. "Se não o fizer e reverter a aceleração insurgente em um curto prazo –enquanto que a capacidade de segurança afegã amadurece– arrisca-se um confronto no qual derrotar a insurgência não será possível". Esta solicitação, segundo informou o ''Washington Post'', foi enviada à Casa Branca em agosto e Obama se encontra analizando-a.

Atualmente há cerca de 70.000 efetivos estadunidenses no Afeganistão, junto com outras 35.000 tropas provenientes de outros países.