thedrifter
04-03-08, 10:01 AM
REGION: Hunter to meet with Joint Chiefs about Afghanistan
By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter is scheduled to sit down with top Pentagon officials Thursday to discuss concerns over the rules of engagement for American troops in Afghanistan, including 3,200 Marines newly deployed to that country.
The meeting with the staff director of the Joints Chiefs of Staff was arranged after Hunter scheduled and later canceled a news conference in Washington on Wednesday morning to discuss his concerns that U.S. troops had to deal with sometimes conflicting rules of engagement in Afghanistan.
Hunter, R-El Cajon and the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, also was slated to discuss his continuing concerns that not enough NATO troops are on the ground in Afghanistan, which the U.S. invaded in late 2001 following the 9/11 terror attacks.
The news conference was called off, Hunter said, because some of his concerns had already been allayed and that much of what he wanted to talk about involves classified material.
"What I want to do is make sure there is a consistency in the rules of engagement," he said during a telephone interview.
Hunter said he wants to make sure that U.S. forces operate exclusively under U.S. rules of engagement and not those governing NATO troops. The NATO rules are considered stricter than those that apply to the U.S. military, he said.
For months, Hunter has also complained that NATO countries should be willing to place more of their troops in Afghanistan. He was against proposals that surfaced last year calling for more Marines to join the fight in Afghanistan, saying he believed that the 26 NATO nations should bear a greater share of the commitment.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon announced it was sending 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan this spring for what is billed as a one-time deployment only to help combat an expected uprising by the Taliban as the weather warms.
Few Marine Corps forces have been called to serve in Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taliban shortly after the 2001 invasion.
"One reason we're there with the Marines now is because NATO countries are refusing to send more troops," Hunter said. "I think it's an illustration that NATO has largely become a social organization with little appetite for continuing the fight. We need to press our allies."
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other Pentagon leaders recently tried to sway NATO to send more troops, but came away largely unsuccessful.
There are roughly 31,000 U.S. troops now in Afghanistan compared with about 47,000 NATO troops. Earlier this week, President Bush said he hoped a NATO summit taking place in Romania this week would lead to more troops commitments from its member nations.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
Ellie
By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter is scheduled to sit down with top Pentagon officials Thursday to discuss concerns over the rules of engagement for American troops in Afghanistan, including 3,200 Marines newly deployed to that country.
The meeting with the staff director of the Joints Chiefs of Staff was arranged after Hunter scheduled and later canceled a news conference in Washington on Wednesday morning to discuss his concerns that U.S. troops had to deal with sometimes conflicting rules of engagement in Afghanistan.
Hunter, R-El Cajon and the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, also was slated to discuss his continuing concerns that not enough NATO troops are on the ground in Afghanistan, which the U.S. invaded in late 2001 following the 9/11 terror attacks.
The news conference was called off, Hunter said, because some of his concerns had already been allayed and that much of what he wanted to talk about involves classified material.
"What I want to do is make sure there is a consistency in the rules of engagement," he said during a telephone interview.
Hunter said he wants to make sure that U.S. forces operate exclusively under U.S. rules of engagement and not those governing NATO troops. The NATO rules are considered stricter than those that apply to the U.S. military, he said.
For months, Hunter has also complained that NATO countries should be willing to place more of their troops in Afghanistan. He was against proposals that surfaced last year calling for more Marines to join the fight in Afghanistan, saying he believed that the 26 NATO nations should bear a greater share of the commitment.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon announced it was sending 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan this spring for what is billed as a one-time deployment only to help combat an expected uprising by the Taliban as the weather warms.
Few Marine Corps forces have been called to serve in Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taliban shortly after the 2001 invasion.
"One reason we're there with the Marines now is because NATO countries are refusing to send more troops," Hunter said. "I think it's an illustration that NATO has largely become a social organization with little appetite for continuing the fight. We need to press our allies."
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other Pentagon leaders recently tried to sway NATO to send more troops, but came away largely unsuccessful.
There are roughly 31,000 U.S. troops now in Afghanistan compared with about 47,000 NATO troops. Earlier this week, President Bush said he hoped a NATO summit taking place in Romania this week would lead to more troops commitments from its member nations.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
Ellie