More troops for Afghanistan might not be possible anytime soon
By Katherine McIntire Peters
[email protected] October 1, 2009
New analysis of deployment data shows the Army is at or near capacity in its ability to deploy soldiers to Iraq and Afghanistan, Government Executive has learned. That doesn't bode well for Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top American and NATO commander in Afghanistan who reportedly is asking for as many as 40,000 additional troops.
While there has been much debate about the administration's strategy in Afghanistan and the merits of McChrystal's request for additional troops, far less attention has been paid to the issue of whether a substantial troop increase in the next few months is even possible. Judging by an assessment by the RAND Arroyo Center, a nonprofit, federally funded research center, the Army cannot supply significantly more soldiers to Afghanistan until the United States pulls far more troops out of Iraq, something that won't happen quickly.
"There's no additional slack to send more troops to Afghanistan without taking them
from Iraq," said Timothy Muchmore, deputy director of the Army office supporting the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review. The Army QDR office sponsored the RAND research, which was briefed to senior Defense officials on Wednesday.
Officials at RAND declined to discuss the study until it is finished later this fall.
The study, based on information collected by the Defense Manpower Data Center, assesses whether the Army is providing the "maximum flow" of soldiers to operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The short answer is yes, according to a copy of the most recent briefing on the study, which was provided to Government Executive.
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=43729&sid=60
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