Two Additional Brigades to Deploy to Afghanistan, Gates Says

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan --- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today he wants to send two combat brigades to Afghanistan by summer in addition to the brigade combat team already scheduled to deploy there in January.>> In an interview with reporters traveling with him, Gates discussed the way forward in Afghanistan before landing here with plans to visit troops and meet with senior leaders.>> The secretary will meet today with Army Gen. David D. McKiernan, commander of NATOs International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces Afghanistan, and with commanders in the countrys southern region.>> Commanders on the ground have estimated they will need as many as 20,000 more troops, along with more intelligence and reconnaissance assets and more helicopters. Commanders say they need the extra troops to reach out to remote villages and rural areas. About 80 percent of the country, which is slightly smaller than Texas, is rural.>> But, Gates said, additional forces are not necessarily the single answer to the problems plaguing security efforts, and that he would like to see more emphasis on building the Afghan army and putting it in the forefront of operations in the country.>> It is very important for the Afghans to be up front in this struggle. This is their country, their fight, and their future, Gates said. We have to do a better job of working with the Afghans and listening to what they have to say, incorporating that into our planning, and ensuring that they are out front -- that this is their fight, and that were there to help them.