WASHINGTON — The top US commander in Afghanistan says he has provided the White House with options that would keep more American forces there beyond 2016.
Army Gen. John Campbell told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday he has submitted "options" to President Barack Obama that would provide "flexibility" to current plans to remove almost all US forces out by the end of next year.
The Obama administration intends to bring the US troop footprint in Afghanistan to around 4,500 by the end of this year, then a normal embassy presence in Kabul by the end of 2016.
Campbell said his "options" focus mostly on the pace of the planned US withdrawal.
That all causes heartburn for some US lawmakers.
SASC Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., warned "unforeseen circumstances" could undermine what he sees as Obama's "calendar-based approach and highlight the need for a conditions-based approach."
"The current troop drawdown plan for Afghanistan no longer accurately reflects the facts and conditions on the ground," McCain said.
"Perhaps it is time for the president to exercise strategic patience — not in the sense he has used the phrase recently," he added, taking a swipe at the philosophy espoused in Obama's new national security strategy.
Asked if he stands by the current troop-level plans, Campbell told the committee he feels comfortable with the number of US troops planned to stay this year — and in the options for "flexibility" he provided the White House.
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Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., urged the general to push the White House to keep more US forces there into 2016. Sessions said he thinks the American people would support an extension and that "the president would listen."
Like other US and NATO uniformed commanders who sat at the witness table before him, Campbell told the committee more time is needed to secure a strategic victory there.
"The next two years of the ... campaign will play a crucial role in cementing our gains," the Army four-star said. "As in the past, our drawdown will occur under enemy pressure. We will need to manage to our efforts to maximize the effects of our [tactical air controllers] and our continued consolidation toward a Kabul-centric posture in 2016."
Campbell warned the panel against expecting any clean outcome by year's end.
"Considering the dynamism of the operational environment and the players within it, we will not pursue, nor hope to achieve, a static 'endstate' for 2015," he said. "Our campaign will evolve and adapt. What we will pursue, however, is a general improvement in security conditions and ANSF [Afghan National Security Forces] capabilities."
Afghan forces are now in the lead on the ground, and Campbell says "al-Qaida, its affiliates and adherents, Taliban, Haqqani Network, and other insurgent and extremist groups will undoubtedly attempt to re-establish their authority and prominence in Afghanistan."
Ominously, he said al-Qaida and its affiliates will try to restore "support networks and planning capabilities with the intention of reconstituting its strike capabilities against Western interests."
Campbell predicts the Taliban "willl likely test the ANSF aggressively in 2015 as they did in 2014."
"Taliban threats from indirect fire, insider attacks and complex attacks are projected to increase in the next fighting season," Campbell told the senators.
He called it "unlikely" that Taliban forces will "overmatch" Afghan troops in 2015, but added "the Taliban will still endeavor to frame localized, tactical successes — albeit temporary — intro strategic victories through the media."
Notably, he said those "insurgents" do not amount to "an existential threat" to the Afghan government.
The independent group NationalPriorities.org estimates Washington has spent nearly $800 billion on the war in Afghanistan. Another, icasualties.org, says 2,356 US forces have been killed there since late 2001.
Email: jbennett@defensenews.com
Twitter:@bennettjohnt
