WASHINGTON
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is pushing back against liberal calls for withdrawal timelines from Afghanistan, saying it's a mistake to set a deadline to end U.S. military action and a defeat would be disastrous for the U.S.
In a stern warning to critics of a continued troop presence in Afghanistan, Gates said that the Islamic extremist Taliban and al-Qaida would perceive an early pullout as a victory over the United States as similar to the Soviet Union's humiliating withdrawal in 1989 after a 10-year war.
"The notion of timelines and exit strategies and so on, frankly, I think would all be a strategic mistake. The reality is, failure in Afghanistan would be a huge setback for the United States," Gates said in an interview broadcast yesterday on CNN's State of the Union.
"Taliban and al-Qaida, as far as they're concerned, defeated one superpower. For them to be seen to defeat a second, I think, would have catastrophic consequences in terms of energizing the extremist movement, al-Qaida recruitment, operations, fundraising, and so on. I think it would be a huge setback for the United States."
Gates' pointed remarks came as President Obama re-examines his administration's strategy in Afghanistan and as the Pentagon sits on a request for additional troops from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan.
Gates said Obama has made no decision on whether to send additional troops. He said that if Obama were to choose to increase combat forces, they would not be able to mobilize until January.
The prospect of sending additional soldiers has created a backlash among some Democrats in Congress and has angered anti-war activists on the left who rallied behind Obama's presidential candidacy last year.
Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin has said the administration should set a "flexible timeline" to draw down troops. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, has called for a specific date for the withdrawal of U.S. forces.
"I do not believe the American people want to be in Afghanistan for the next 10 years, effectively nation building," she told Fox News Sunday.
Others, such as Carl Levin of Michigan, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, have not gone as far, but have urged Obama not to escalate the war.
Obama sent 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan earlier this year. But in a tough assessment of conditions on the ground, McChrystal warned that without more troops the United States could lose the war against the Taliban and its allies. Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, also has endorsed more troops, telling Congress this month that Afghan forces aren't ready to fight the insurgency and protect the population on their own.
Gates rejected suggestions of a split over troop levels between the Pentagon's uniformed leadership on one side and Gates and Obama on the other.
"Having the wrong strategy would put even more soldiers at risk," he told ABC's This Week. "So I think it's important to get the strategy right and then we can make the resources decision."
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