World Watch
February 9, 2011 7:17 AM

Petraeus Warns of a Bloody Spring in Afghanistan

By
Mandy Clark
Topics
Afghanistan
Gen. David Petraeus

U.S. commander in Afghanistan Gen. David Petraeus at the presidential place in Kabul, Dec. 8, 2010.

(Credit: Getty)

General David Petraeus, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, says he is excepting a brutal fight in the spring when Taliban insurgents try to return from their winter safe havens to areas already cleared by the international forces.

"When you have 110,000 more of us than we had a year ago, we're obviously in many, many more places," he said in an interview with NATO TV. "We have taken away areas that matter to the Taliban and they have to fight back."

U.S., Afghan Forces Brace for Spring Offensive
CBS News Special Report: Afghanistan

But he doesn't see more violence as mission failure.

"When you're on the offensive... the insurgents have to fight back and violence goes up, it's a necessary part of any counter-insurgency."

Last year was the deadliest for American troops in the 10 year war, with 499 service members dying in the line of duty.

Gen. Petraeus declined to provide any firm numbers regarding how many U.S. troops might return home as part of the July 2011 drawdown which President Obama announced in his U.S. policy review in December 2009.

"We'll have to get a good bit closer to that, needless to say, to see what the conditions on the ground may be, and then make recommendations," says Petraeus.

He assures America's war-weary public that significant gains have been made by the troop surge. International forces are controlling more areas that were once Taliban safe havens. He does see the surge continuing, but it will become more of an Afghan surge backed by U.S. forces rather than the present circumstances to the contrary.

Increasing U.S. reliance on the Afghan Security Forces, however, may come prematurely. Afghan soldiers are often ill-equipped in the field, and the Afghan forces have been plagued with myriad problems, including high rates of desertion, drug-use and infiltration by the Taliban.


Add a Comment
by mit26chell February 12, 2011 4:50 PM EST
War is a racket. Petraeus is a war criminal.

Every day that we as a nation stand by while these criminal murderers slaughter another innocent person, is another day hatred and resentment brew in the Arab nations against the United States.
Reply to this comment
by DCCorruption February 9, 2011 8:08 AM EST
Janfebmarapr is correct. About half to two thirds of our economy is dependent upon war so this nation has to be at war all of the time to keep the defense industry running. If it isn't Afghanistan, it'll be Iran, or North Korea.
Jaylah54 is also correct. Our soldiers are trained in about 6 months for combat, this crap that it takes years to train the Afghan soldiers is complete B.S. It's more along the lines that there's money to be made by mercs training the Afghans and they haven't gotten their pledged $$ out of the deal yet, so we must extend over there.
So, taking the Taliban on in the spring will be bloody and perhaps damage the Taliban for a year....then we leave and the Taliban is back in the next spring kicking the crap out of the Afghan army that in turn folds and the area ends back in the hands of the Taliban.
Iraq is a mess and will continue to be a mess as will Afghanistan. If that is the way the morons in that part of the earth wish to live their lives, let them kill each other over tribal differences. To hell with them.
Reply to this comment
by Jaylah54 February 9, 2011 7:39 AM EST
Why should Afghan troops get themselves killed when we're willing to do it for them.

I'm so sick of hearing about how we're working on training more Afghan soldiers, blah, blah, blah.

Our troops go through about 2 months of basic training, and about the same amount of time in advanced individual training. Once they're tapped for Afghanistan or Iraq, they get a few more weeks of specialized training, and they're off to fight a war.

A war that doesn't have anything to do with the US.

If we can take raw recruits off the streets, and have them fighting in Afghanistan in less than 6 months, why the hell does it take us YEARS AND YEARS to train an Afghan army?

I'll tell you why: Why should Afghan troops get themselves killed when we're willing to do it for them.
Reply to this comment
by Janfebmarapr February 9, 2011 7:35 AM EST
The latest boogieman to get our guys killed and to make money for the military industrialist complex, the Taliban.
As if even China would have enough men to police the entire country and region.
Taliban are like mosquitos, you can never kill them all.
Why are we still in Afghanistan?
Next boogieman - Iran.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Reply to this comment
by Birdman04 February 9, 2011 7:32 AM EST
Almost 500 of our brave soldiers used as cannon fodder in a senseless war chasing faceless ghosts in the deserts of hell itself.

I wonder how many ghosts we killed to justify the deaths of our precious sons and daughters?

How many innocent people died for no reason?
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