Economic gains would quell Afghan violence, Petraeus says
BAGHDAD — U. S. Gen. David Petraeus said Sunday that experience in Iraq shows it will take political and economic progress as well as military action to tackle increased violence in Afghanistan.
“You don’t kill or capture your way out of an industrial strength insurgency,” he told the Associated Press in a telephone interview.
His comments come as a debate over the need to redeploy troops from Iraq to Afghanistan has become a central issue in the U. S. presidential campaign.
Petraeus, who is widely credited with pulling Iraq back from the brink of civil war, is taking over as chief of U. S. Central Command, the headquarters overseeing U. S. military involvement throughout the Middle East, as well as Afghanistan and the rest of Central Asia.
He’ll hand over the reins in Iraq to Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno Tuesday during a ceremony at the U. S. military headquarters at Camp Victory on the western outskirts of Baghdad.
Petraeus’ counterinsurgency strategy has paid off in Iraq, where the number of attacks has dropped to its lowest point in more than four years. But he will face a new challenge with violence rising in Afghanistan.
It will be a delicate balancing act to tackle a resurgent Taliban enjoying refuge in the lawless border areas of Pakistan without losing ground in Iraq.
“We’ve got a situation in Afghanistan where clearly there have been trends headed in the wrong direction,” Petraeus said. “Military action is absolutely necessary but it is not sufficient.”
“Political, economic and diplomatic activity is critical to capitalize on gains in the security arena,” he said.
The 55-year-old general assumed control of U. S. forces in Iraq about 19 months ago after President Bush ordered some 30,000 additional American forces to Iraq as part of a surge aimed at stopping spiraling Sunni-Shiite sectarian violence.
The reason for the decline in violence is hotly debated, but the U. S. military cites the troop buildup, along with a Sunni revolt that saw former insurgents turn against al-Qaida in Iraq and a Shiite militia cease-fire ordered by a strident American foe Muqtada al-Sadr.
As of Sunday, at least 4,157 members of the U. S. military have died in the Iraq War since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The figure includes eight military civilians killed in action. At least 3,377 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military’s numbers.
The AP count is one fewer than the Defense Department’s tally, last updated at 10 a. m. Friday.
In latest deaths reported by the military, two soldiers died Sunday of noncombat injuries south of Baghdad.
The British military has reported 176 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia and Georgia, three each; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korea, one death each.
Petraeus also acknowledged the military’s dual role, calling U. S. troops “builders and diplomats as well as guardians and warriors” in his farewell letter posted on the military’s Web site.
“The progress achieved has been hard-earned,” he wrote. “There have been many tough days along the way, and we have suffered tragic losses. Indeed, nothing in Iraq has been anything but hard.”
Petraeus stressed it was premature to discuss strategy but suggested he will carry over lessons from his playbook in Iraq — including possible outreach to try to bring hostile players into the political process.
Petraeus, however, stressed the ultimate decision to reach out to militants would be up to the Afghan government.
“We did reaffirm in Iraq the recognition that you don’t kill or capture your way out of an industrial-strength insurgency,” he said.
“Clearly there are so-called irreconcilables who must be killed or captured or run out of the country,” he added. “But reconciliation with some of those who are currently part of the problem and making them part of the solution is something that I know is being examined as an option.”
