U.S. gov't, Congress at odds on sending more troops to Afghanistan

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Washington D.C. heard contrary rhetoric on the need to send more American troops to Afghanistan from the Defense Department and Congress on Tuesday as President Barack Obama is contemplating a new plan to win the eight-year war in the country.

Speculation has been on before and after Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. top commander in Afghanistan, submitted the assessment report that the military is likely to request more troops deployed to defeat Taliban's resurgence, though Obama has promised earlier this year to send an additional 21,000 troops to the war worn country by the end of the year.

For the first time, the military sent a clear message on Tuesday that a proper effort to counter the Taliban insurgency "probably means more forces."

At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: "It's very clear to me that we will need more resources" to carry out Obama's new strategy in Afghanistan issued earlier this year.

However, Mullen did not say how many more troops would be requested, a question which he said would be debated in the coming weeks.

His remarks were endorsed by the top Republican lawmaker in the panel, Senator John McCain. He said, "Too few forces to the war would invite a rerun of mistakes the U.S. made in Iraq."

But congressional Democrats remained skeptical and opposed to the possibility of sending more troops to Afghanistan before the government proposes a detailed plan to win the war.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, a Democrat, argued that to demonstrate the resolve in the war, the United States should provide "the resources needed for the Afghan army and Afghan police to become self-sufficient," which would demonstrate "our commitment to the success of a mission that is in our national security interest," not just expansion of the size of its troops there.