# Mullen: U.S.-Afghan partnership stronger than ever

/ Published March 31, 2010

KABUL (March 31, 2010) – After visits to  U.S., coalition and Afghan forces in Afghanistan’s Helmand and Kandahar  provinces, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today that  “never has our partnership ... been stronger, or the challenges we face,  clearer.” 

                       Navy Adm. Mike Mullen completed a rigorous three-day visit to  Afghanistan that took him to the region of the recent offensive in Marja  in Helmand province. Mullen also attended a “shura” – a meeting of  community leaders – at the governor’s palace in downtown Kandahar. In  central Helmand, Mullen saw the results of the offensive. Though  combined Afghan and U.S. forces cleared them from many villages, the  Taliban remain a presence. Intimidation remains, but the security  situation is improving, the chairman said. Still, he added, the  offensive was a good example of how U.S., Afghan and coalition forces  can work together to protect the people of Afghanistan, and it certainly  has lessons for the upcoming fight for Kandahar. The city is  the very heart of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the chairman said. “Nearly  half of President [Barack] Obama’s 30,000 troop commitment has made it  to theater, with more coming every month,” Mullen said. “They are coming  to Kandahar – the cornerstone of our surge effort and the key to  shifting momentum from the enemy to the Afghan people.” While  Mullen said he is encouraged, he added that patience is necessary noting  that the operation into Marja was launched only 45 days ago. The  same ideas and elan that went into planning operations in Marja will go  into Kandahar operations, the admiral said, but the worlds of the two  places are far apart, so the tactical operations won’t be the same.  Marja is rural, with a population of roughly 70,000 spread over a large  area, and the Taliban ruled there for the last two years. Kandahar has a  population of more than 2 million and has a plethora of tribes, family  groups, local power brokers and drug lords, Mullen explained. “It’s  a much bigger challenge,” he said, “and I think [it] has a much greater  potential to achieve the goal of reversing [Taliban] momentum.” U.S.  military and State Department officials talk about using the shura  system as a way to work out thorny issues in the country that help to  spur people to join the insurgents. The partnership between U.S.  and Afghan forces also has been crucial, Mullen said. “Many of the  leaders [at the shura in Marja] told me that the security in many places  was much improved – the result of extraordinary partnering and Afghan  leadership,” he said. “But so too, did they speak of Taliban  intimidation, local corruption and a real economic need.” The  leaders at the shura spoke of education, roads, health care, help for  agriculture, and the need for jobs, Mullen said. He said he was struck  by how normal the requests sounded, and that it appeared to him that the  people of Marja just want to get on with their lives. Provincial  leaders have heard these calls, but the capability to produce is  limited. Mullen said the U.S. military shares the desire for  security and stability throughout Afghanistan that the people of Marja  and Kandahar want. “We share the view that Afghan security forces,  properly trained and equipped, can protect its citizens,” he said. The  operation in Marja stands as a testament to that fact. More than 10,000  American troops are in Helmand, serving alongside coalition and Afghan  partners. “We still work hard every day to create security  conditions conducive to economic development,” the chairman said. “We’re  undoubtedly making progress, as I saw myself. Many villages are safe  again. The streets are filling, and the shops are open. “I must  applaud here the terrific work of the Afghan National Army,” he  continued. “I heard from more than one American soldier and Marine how  far the [Afghan army] has come in a short period of time. They fight  bravely, they fight well, and they lead.” Mullen also said he is  pleased with the way the Afghan National Civil Order Police operated in  Marja. Police training has been under-resourced, and local police often  have been put on the streets with no training, he said. “We  know this is a problem, and we are addressing this,” he said. The people  of the region want the civil order police to stay, he added. Still,  the admiral said, continued progress is not assured. “We have  moved to the ‘hold and build’ phase in many areas, and we will find  ourselves clearing out areas in many others,” he said. “The Taliban  continue to be pervasive and persistent. It will take more work, and  likely more bloodshed, to break it loose. “Too sanguine an  approach is just as treacherous as too little fortitude to see it  through,” he continued. “We have learned in this long fight that failure  makes itself obvious; success takes longer to see.”