The News Journal

By Nicole Gaudiano

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WASHINGTON -- Sen. Chris Coons, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is calling for a shift from "nation-building" in Afghanistan to a more targeted strategy modeled after the successful mission that located and killed terrorist Osama bin Laden.

As President Barack Obama's July deadline for beginning a draw down of U.S. troops approaches, Coons said the first step should be a new focus on counterterrorism, which he said could keep the U.S. military in Afghanistan longer than now anticipated but with fewer troops and an emphasis on special forces focused on killing or capturing jihadists.

The Delaware Democrat's position is at odds not only with Obama's current strategy but with Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., who said the current counterinsurgency strategy is working. Rep. John Carney, D-Del., supports a shift in strategy similar to Coons.

"My goal is American security, and Afghanistan is not the biggest threat we face," Coons said in a Tuesday interview. "It is an emerging threat across several countries. And a counterterrorism focus in Afghanistan leaves us the breathing room -- the troop size and the resources -- to focus on these other threats."

When Obama announced a "surge" of about 30,000 additional troops in December 2009, the president pointed to this July as the month to begin pulling out troops. Some military commanders believe the United States needs more time to cripple the Taliban and hand off to Afghan security forces. But a growing number of conservatives, concerned about the war's cost, and liberal Democrats have been calling for a faster withdrawal. Some have called for a shift to counterterrorism since bin Laden was killed last month.

The current strategy focuses on removing militants and helping build the infrastructure and government. Coons said that strategy isn't sustainable and isn't making America safer. He said greater threats exist in Pakistan and Iran and are emerging in Yemen and Somalia.

Coons worries the current strategy is producing more people who are willing to fight U.S. troops. Meanwhile, he said the level of corruption in the Afghan government is "just stunning."

While Coons defers to the military on the timing of the draw down, Carney supports an accelerated withdrawal, given the killing of bin Laden and other high-ranking members of al Qaida. He has joined others calling for an assessment of the situation to press for a swifter withdrawal plan.

"He believes that the United States should be focused more on counterterrorism -- and less on nation building," said Carney's spokesman, James Allen.

Carper, meanwhile, is backing the administration's current course. He supports reducing the number of troops the latter part of this year, but he said it's important that the United States continue working with NATO and helping Afghans stand up their government, train the army and police, ferret out corruption and diversify their economy.

"If all we did was look for a military victory, I think we'll be disappointed," he said.

Coons and Carper have both visited the country this year, but they came away with far different impressions.

Carper, who has visited three times in the past two years, said he has seen "significant progress" in regaining control of former Taliban strongholds in the southern part of the country since April 2010.

"If you look at the progress that I saw on the ground, especially in southern Afghanistan, our military strategy and I think our strategy of training the Afghan's military and police are actually beginning to pay some dividends," Carper said. "The strategy we're pursuing now appears to be working."

But during his February visit, Coons said he was "stunned" by how underdeveloped the country is. For instance, the goal for national police academy graduates is simply to have them reading at a first grade level, meaning they can "barely read a serial number on a gun or file a report," Coons said.

"How can you possibly run a 350,000-man army and police force when a majority of them are literally illiterate?" he asked. "If you're going to have a legitimate government that's sustainable, it's got to be able to build a legitimate local police force, and I'm just not convinced it's possible."