Gen. challenges view of Afghan insurgency

[unhappycamper]

Gen. challenges view of Afghan insurgency
By Pauline Jelinek - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Feb 6, 2008 18:38:23 EST

The top U.S. general in Afghanistan on Wednesday challenged the widely held view that the insurgency there is worsening, saying he thinks “it’s probably stayed about the same.”

Speaking to Pentagon reporters, Army Gen. Dan McNeill also said that American forces are having better success there than NATO allies because they come with more money to hand out for reconstruction projects and they stay longer — serving controversial 15-month tours of duty that are straining the Army, compared with six-month tours typically served by other nations.

The comments by McNeill — commander of the 39-nation International Security Assistance Force — comes as the Bush administration reviews its efforts in the six-year-old war, which last year experienced it most violent year yet.

And it follows an independent report last week that said Afghanistan risks sliding into a failed state and becoming the “forgotten war” because of deteriorating international support and a growing violent insurgency being fought by a resurgent Taliban.

Asked if he believes the insurgency is growing, McNeill said, “I think that it’s probably stayed about the same as what it was.”


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_insurgents_080206w/