Afstan: 1,000 more troops needed/Second US Carrier in region

Two stories via Afghanistan Watch:

1) Troops:

NATO Short on Troops in Afghanistan

Signs of a new spring offensive by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan have begun to emerge, but NATO commanders are still short more than 1,000 combat troops, despite repeated requests to allied nations, the top commander said Friday.

U.S. Gen. John Craddock told reporters that while the allies are winning more battles with insurgents, they are losing the counter-narcotics war, and more work and greater coordination is needed in the reconstruction effort.

Craddock said there has already been a slight increase in suicide attacks and roadside bombs _ the beginnings of an expected increase in violence as the weather improves. And he said he is still short by as much as two battalions, largely combat units, despite recent commitments for about 7,000 additional troops there, including more than 3,500 from the United States. A battalion is generally about 800 soldiers.

Craddock also said that 30 percent to 40 percent of the 25 provincial reconstruction teams working to rebuild the country do not have all the people they need, particularly State Department and agricultural experts. In those cases, he said the agencies either have no presence or not enough people on the teams, which number about 100 people [sounds rather like the Canadian situation - MC]...

2) Carrier:

US Navy: aircraft carrier for Afghanistan, not Iran

The second US aircraft carrier that arrived near the Gulf in late February is focusing its operations on supporting coalition ground forces in Afghanistan and is not targeting Iran, its top commanders said. The nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier USS John C Stennis had entered the Bahrain-based US Navy 5th Fleet area of responsibility on February 19, taking position in the northern Arabian Sea...

The deployment of the Stennis alongside the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D Eisenhower had fuelled speculation that the US was planning to attack Iran, a claim that top US Naval officials in the region have refuted repeatedly.

Speculations over an impending attack were intensified in recent days after British naval officials revealed that their presence since October had doubled, with a French aircraft carrier steaming towards the region [see second part of post at link].

"Our mission right now is specifically focused on Afghanistan to provide the air support for the ground coalition troops there," said the commanding officer of the Stennis, Captain Bradley E Johanson, on February 27, as the carrier launched its planes into action for the fifth straight day over Afghanistan.

"Our positioning is specifically focused to be adjacent to the air corridors that go over Pakistan into Afghanistan," he said, pointing out that coalition efforts in Afghanistan were aimed at stabilizing the country and establishing the foundation for democracy...