By Nathan Hodge
The top U.S. Marine general in Afghanistan said President Barack Obama’s announced July 2011 deadline to start withdrawing troops from the country had given “sustenance” to the Taliban.
“We know the president was talking to several audiences at the same time when he made his comments on July 2011,” Gen. James Conway told reporters on Tuesday. “In some ways, we think right now it’sprobably giving our enemy sustenance….In fact, we’ve interceptedcommunications that say, ‘Hey, you know, we only have to hold out for solong.’”
Conway, who recently returned from a trip to the region, said he expected Marines to remain on the ground in southern Afghanistan, thetraditional stronghold for the Taliban, well after July 2011, though hehimself is set to retire in the fall.
“I certainly believe that some American units somewhere in Afghanistan will turn over responsibilities to Afghanistan securityforces in 2011, I do not think they will be Marines,” he said.
The Marines form only one part of the 78,000-strong U.S. troop contingent, which is in turn part of the NATO-led International SecurityAssistance Force, which includes some 120,000 troops from 47 nations.Marine operations are focused primarily on the southern provinces ofKandahar and Helmand Provinces, in Afghanistan’s Pashtun heartland.
Timing of the troop drawdown is a contentious political issue. When Obama announced a surge of 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan inDecember, he said the transfer of forces in mid-2011 would depend onconditions on the ground, including the ability of Afghan securityforces to take over responsibility for security.
Conway said the Marines would continue to go after the Taliban, regardless of the 2011 deadline. “If you accept what I offered earlieras true, that Marines will be there … after the middle of 2011, what’sthe enemy going to say then, you know?” he said.
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