Updated on
Summary
The top US commander in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChrystal told US Congress that he expects to see significant progress to take place in that country over the next 18 months that will lead to a critical decisive point in that country. Appearing before the House Armed Services Committee, Gen. Stanley McChrystal laid out a timeline of how he sees progress developing over the next year and a half in Afghanistan as 30,000 more troops will arrive by next summer to push US troop levels to almost 100,000. By next December, when I report back to you in detail, I expect that we'll be able to lay real progress out that will be clear to everyone, McChrystal told House lawmakers. And by the following summer of July 2011, I think the progress will be unequivocally clear to the Afghan people. And when it's unequivocally clear to them, that will be a critical, decisive point. Later in the day, both he and US ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenbery, both told the Senate Armed Services Committee that they had seen progress since October, when Afghanistans election controversy was resolved.McChrystal said the fight against the Taliban had improved dramatically and Eikenberry cited very significant improvement on the political front as a result of the end to the election crisis and the positive feedback from President Hamid Karzais inaugural address. In that address Karzai pledged to take on corruption and set a goal of having Afghan security forces taking full responsibility for security in the country within the next five years.
