THE US is threatening to launch air strikes on Mullah Omar and the Taliban leadership in the Pakistani city of Quetta as frustration mounts about the ease with which they find sanctuary across the Afghanistan border. The threat comes amid growing divisions in Washington about whether to deal with the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan by sending more troops or by reducing them and targeting the terrorists.
The US military sent a request over the weekend to Defence Secretary Robert Gates for more troops for Afghanistan, as urged by General Stanley McChrystal, the US commander there.
In a leaked assessment of the war, General McChrystal urged extra troops within a year to avert the risk of failure. He is believed to want up to 40,000 troops.
However, with US President Barack Obama under pressure from Democrats not to intensify the war, the administration has let it be known it is rethinking strategy. Vice-President Joe Biden has suggested reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan and focusing on the Taliban and al-Qa'ida in Pakistan.
Last week, General McChrystal denied any rift with the administration, saying "a policy debate is warranted". According to The New York Times, he flew from Kabul to Ramstein airbase in Germany on Friday for a secret meeting with Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to discuss the request for more troops.
Mr Obama has refused to set a deadline for a new strategy on troop numbers, The Washington Post reported yesterday. He will begin the first of five high-level meetings on Afghanistan tomorrow, the newspaper added.
The President will encourage open debate at the meetings, which will begin with the assumption that General McChrystal's assessment is correct.
Source: The Australian
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