Top Military Official: More Troops Needed in Afghanistan
Navy Adm. Michael Mullen
The economy may be priority No. 1 in the new presidential administration, but national security isn’t far behind.
It’s certainly job No. 1 for Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mullen spoke Thursday night at the ABA’s 18th Annual Review of the Field of National Security Law in Washington, D.C.
An unstable Middle East is his primary worry, as is the troubled war in Afghanistan.
Mullen contrasted Iraq with the war in Afghanistan, “which is not going very well right now,” and said that there aren’t nearly enough troops in Afghanistan.
He explained that a local armed force and police force are essential. Security on the ground should be followed by work to develop the country’s economy, establish a functioning central government. Only then will tribal leaders have what they need to govern and institute the rule of law.
Mullen’s speech was during day one of the program, which was sponsored by the ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security.
During other panels, there was plenty of free advice for President-elect Barack Obama and the folks who’ll take over national security leadership positions in his administration.
In its blog, Washington Wire, the Wall Street Journal reported that CIA senior deputy general counsel John Rizzo said that the new administration needs to immediately address detainee issues at Guantanamo Bay and in the CIA’s interrogation program. But Rizzo said that Obama should keep his hands off new domestic surveillance laws and the organization of the intelligence community.
Rizzo told session attendees that the new administration should steer clear of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which Congress updated last summer. “I wouldn’t screw around with that too much at the outset,” Rizzo is quoted saying. “I wouldn’t reopen that.”
But James A. Baker, who formerly headed the Justice Department’s intelligence oversight office, said there’s plenty of tweaking that the Obama administration can do, especially when it comes to resolving conflicting laws governing intelligence collection. The Wire quotes Baker as calling the current laws “just a mess.”
To clean them up, he advised the next administration embark on updates and rationalization so that intelligence officials have clear direction.
