Robert Gates
Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman, Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, right, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008, before the Senate Armed Services Committee. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

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Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday the Pentagon may be able to send thousands more combat troops to Afghanistan starting next spring, but he also pointedly cautioned against overdoing a military buildup in a country offended by the presence of foreign forces.

"I think we need to think about how heavy a military footprint the United States ought to have in Afghanistan," Gates said. "Are we better off channeling resources into building and expanding the size of the Afghan national army as quickly as possible, as opposed to a much larger Western footprint in a country that has never been notoriously hospitable to foreigners?"

There are now about 31,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan and roughly an equal number of coalition troops.

In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gates also expressed disappointment at a persistent lack of coordination among the various international military and humanitarian organizations that are attempting to stabilize Afghanistan and put it on a path to peace.

One of the keys in Afghanistan, he said, is building momentum not just on the military front but also in the economic and political arenas a coordinated approach that Gates said is sorely lacking.

"Right now, as far as I can tell, it's essentially everybody doing their own thing," he lamented.

His assessment explains in part why the Bush administration is undertaking a broad review of its strategy in Afghanistan not just the military approach but also the economic and humanitarian linkages. Most telling was his allusion to the risk of putting too much emphasis on the role of military power.

Many members of NATO, whose International Security Assistance Force is the overall military command in Afghanistan, have resisted U.S. calls to contribute more troops. They have put more emphasis on economic development, humanitarian assistance and encouraging better Afghan governance.

President Bush announced earlier this month that one Army combat brigade that had been scheduled to go to Iraq would instead be sent to Afghanistan in January. Gates said that as many as three more combat brigades could be available to go beginning next spring, answering repeated calls from commanders.

Because of the large numbers of troops in Iraq, more forces cannot be committed to Afghanistan now without extending combat tours or changing troop deployment schedules, Gates said. When pressed by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., Gates said they probably could go in the spring and summer of 2009.

Levin objected to a statement in Gates' prepared testimony that said it now may be "possible" to do militarily what must be done in Afghanistan, which has been a secondary priority to the Iraq war for years.

"It seems to me that is just simply not good enough," said Levin. "To say it's `possible' that we'll do what we must do in Afghanistan does not represent the kind of commitment of forces or resources that our commanders on the ground are asking us for in Afghanistan."

In response, Gates offered the likely troop buildup next spring, but cautioned that the next president will have to weigh the costs and benefits of further expanding the size of the U.S. force in Afghanistan.

Gates, who visited Iraq and Afghanistan last week, said the U.S. experience in Iraq offers lessons for the struggle to overcome Taliban and other insurgent groups in and around the Afghan-Pakistan border area.

"On the Pakistani side of the border we face the same situation that we have faced in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that is that military action, even if it is carried out aggressively and effectively by the Pakistani army, still needs to be accompanied by economic development, civic development and so on," Gates said, adding that he favors offering Pakistan more economic assistance.

Gates made clear the depth of his concern about developments in the largely ungoverned areas of western Pakistan, including the tribal areas were al-Qaida leaders are thought to have found haven.

"If you asked me today after the successes that we've had against al-Qaida in Iraq where the greatest threat to the (American) homeland lies, I would tell you it's in western Pakistan," he said.

Pakistan has direct impact on the Afghanistan war in other ways, including as a transportation corridor for U.S. vehicles and aircraft that resupply U.S. and allied fighting forces in Afghanistan. Gates said 40 percent of fuel and 80 percent of other cargo destined for the troops in Afghanistan comes through Pakistan.

Gen. James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testifying alongside Gates, told the committee that the Pentagon is planning for the possibility that those transport routes could be disrupted or closed.

"We have three or four what we're calling test cases that we're running of alternative routes to get both dry bulk and fuel into the country," Cartwright said. "And they started about three weeks ago, and we're working our way through to understand rail, pipelines, customs, what would it take. Are they there in a sufficient scale to allow us to do this?"

Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.

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