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Washington (CNN) – Lawmakers questioned a high-ranking diplomat and a top military official to Afghanistan on Thursday about the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan in light of a troop surge announced last week.

Legislators on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs inquired how Pakistan played a role in the Afghanistan strategy; the impact of community development in combating the insurgency and measuring progress; and on the practicality of the July 2011 timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops, among other issues.

The hearing was the fourth this week in which top officials testified about President Barack Obama's new plan for the Afghan war, which involves the deployment of another 30,000 U.S. troops and a July 2011 date for the beginning of an American withdrawal.

It was the third hearing for Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and the fourth for U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry.

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates ended a two-day trip to Afghanistan on Thursday, telling a group of Afghan soldiers that America will maintain a presence beyond the troop pullout set to begin in 2011.

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Washington (CNN) - Coalition forces can attain "success" in Afghanistan, but violence will likely increase as the approved troop surge moves forward in stabilizing the war-torn country, a top U.S. commander told a Senate committee Wednesday.

Gen. David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command, predicted increased violence in spring 2010 and turmoil within the Afghan government as corruption is rooted out. Despite that, he told the Senate Finance Committee that "success" is within reach but will be difficult to attain.

Petraeus' appearance before legislators was the latest by top U.S.  officials on Capitol Hill this week. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, testified before the Senate and House counterparts of the Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, joined by Karl Eikenberry, the U.S.
ambassador in Kabul.

They were called to testify about President Barack Obama's new plan for the Afghan war, which involves the deployment of another 30,000 U.S. troops and a July 2011 date for the beginning of an American withdrawal.

Washington (CNN) - Finding al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and rolling back a resurgent Taliban are necessary steps toward winning the war in Afghanistan, the top U.S. commander there told a Senate committee Tuesday.

Bin Laden remains at large more than eight years after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington that triggered the Afghan war, and is widely believed to be hiding along the rugged border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan,
said the world's most wanted terrorist is "an iconic figure" whose survival "emboldens al Qaeda as a franchising organization across the world."

"It would not defeat al Qaeda to have him captured or killed, but I don't think we can finally defeat al Qaeda until he is finally captured or killed," McChrystal told the Senate Armed Services Committee. But he said if bin Laden is hiding across the border, "It is outside of my mandate."

In addition, he said, pushing back the Taliban - which allowed al Qaeda to operate from Afghanistan before 9/11 - is a "prerequisite" for destroying the terrorist network.

"To pursue our core goal of defeating al Qaeda and preventing their return to Afghanistan, we must disrupt and degrade the Taliban's capacity, deny their access to the Afghan population, and strengthen the Afghan security forces," he said.

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Updated: 4:16 p.m.

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday that the United States "will never turn our back" on Afghanistan. Gates, who is on an unannounced visit in the war zone, held a joint news conference with Karzai.

"President Obama is sending 30,000 more U.S. troops, the first of which are scheduled to arrive within days," Gates said. "Afghanistan's international partners have pledged at least 7,000 additional troops; when all is said and done, some 43 nations will make up a force."

Gates also was scheduled to meet with Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, as well as American military officials.

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Washington (CNN) - The Pentagon announced Monday the first step in the surge of more U.S. forces to Afghanistan, saying 1,500 troops from an infantry battalion task force at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina will deploy later this month.

Another 13,500 troops will deploy by the end of spring 2010, including an additional 6,200 Marines from Regimental Combat Team-2 at Camp Lejeune; 800 from I Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, California; 3,400 troops from a Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, New York; and 4,100 support forces, according to the Department of Defense.

President Barack Obama announced last week he would deploy a total of 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan in the surge, with plans to begin withdrawing them as soon as July 2011.

Related: Obama aides fine-tuning meaning of Afghan withdrawal date

Washington (CNN) – A leading Republican strategist and one-time aide to former Vice President Cheney said Sunday that President Obama’s recently announced decision to send an additional 30, 000 troops to Afghanistan is “a reassertion of the Bush doctrine.”

“The [Bush] doctrine is no safe havens [for terrorists intent on harming the United States] and we go after those that provide a harbor [for such terrorists]. That’s the doctrine,” Republican strategist Mary Matalin explained Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union.

Obama’s decision to surge additional troops into Afghanistan is “solid policy,’ in Matalin’s view and “a reassertion of the Bush doctrine.”

“Every strategic element is from the Bush doctrine. The tactics are from the Bush surge [in Iraq],” she said.

Matalin added that when civilian contractors and forces supplied by NATO allies are considered “there are enough troops” in Afghanistan.

But, Matalin also said Sunday that, by announcing a date to begin to remove some American troops, Obama had sent a mixed message about the United States’ commitment in Afghanistan.
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Washington (CNN) – A leading Republican strategist and one-time aide to former Vice President Cheney said Sunday that President Obama’s recently announced decision to send an additional 30, 000 troops to Afghanistan is “a reassertion of the Bush doctrine.”

“The [Bush] doctrine is no safe havens [for terrorists intent on harming the United States] and we go after those that provide a harbor [for such terrorists]. That’s the doctrine,” Republican strategist Mary Matalin explained Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union.

Obama’s decision to surge additional troops into Afghanistan is “solid policy,’ in Matalin’s view and “a reassertion of the Bush doctrine.”

“Every strategic element is from the Bush doctrine. The tactics are from the Bush surge [in Iraq],” she said.

Matalin added that when civilian contractors and forces supplied by NATO allies are considered “there are enough troops” in Afghanistan.

But, Matalin also said Sunday that, by announcing a date to begin to remove some American troops, Obama had sent a mixed message about the United States’ commitment in Afghanistan.
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Washington (CNN) – A potential contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nod praised President Obama’s decision to surge 30,000 additional troops into Afghanistan and, at the same time, questioned the wisdom of Obama’s decision to announce a date to begin to draw down the additional troops.

President Obama used a speech at West Point last week to announce that he has ordered 30,000 additional troops to be sent to Afghanistan as part of a new, refocused strategy intended to quell the Taliban and help the Afghan government build up its own security forces. As part of the new strategy, Obama also said last week that the U.S. would begin to remove those additional troops in July 2011, depending upon the conditions on the ground in the war-torn country.

“I think he’s made the right decision with regards to Afghanistan in a general direction,” former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union.

“And, by the way, you’re noting that Republicans are not making this a political football,” the former White House hopeful added. “Republicans are saying ‘Yeah, he’s done the right thing here.’”

But, Romney’s praise of Obama quickly turned to criticism.
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Americans agree with the Afghanistan policy Barack Obama announced on Tuesday night at West Point, according to a new national poll out Sunday. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Washington (CNN) - Americans agree with the Afghanistan policy Barack Obama announced on Tuesday night at West Point in large measure because they agree with the arguments the president made in that speech, according to a new national poll.

In his prime time address at the U.S. Military Academy, where Obama spelled out his decision to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to the war, the president stressed that America's safety and security are at stake in Afghanistan. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national survey released Sunday morning indicates 64 percent of Americans agree with the president, with one in three saying the country's safety and security is not at stake in Afghanistan. According to the poll, 63 percent of people questioned also agree with Obama that the U.S. action in Afghanistan is morally justified.

Full results (pdf)

"That's one major way that Afghanistan is different from Iraq in the public's mind," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "At the time of the Iraq surge in 2007, most Americans questioned whether that war was justified."
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Washington (CNN) – The number two Republican in the Senate said Sunday that his party generally supports President Obama’s recently announced surge strategy in Afghanistan. But, added Sen. John Kyl, by announcing a date to begin to draw down the additional U.S. troops sent as part of the surge, the president had “complicated matters” in the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan.

After roughly three months of deliberation, President Obama announced last week that he has ordered 30,000 additional troops to be sent to Afghanistan. As part of the new strategy, Obama also informed the nation and the world that the U.S. would begin to remove those troops in July 2011, depending upon the conditions on the ground in the war-torn country.

Republicans “are supportive of the president,” Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. “They want this mission to succeed very much and we will do everything we can to support his policy.”

But, Kyl quickly added, “I think he has complicated matters by having this firm beginning-of-withdrawal date. He said it is chiseled in stone. But what happens the day after [Obama’s drawdown date] and how many troops come down, I think is the question. And, as long as that’s condition-based, it has a chance of succeeding.

“The reason I said it complicates matters is that in war, will matters. In fact, the whole object of war is to break the will of the enemy to fight.”
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(CNN) - Top aides to President Barack Obama on Sunday signaled that some U.S. troops could start coming home from Afghanistan as soon as July 2011, but most would likely remain there for several years.

In appearances on all the major talk shows, Cabinet officials and military advisers clarified the president's position after he walked a political tight-rope by announcing he will send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and that some will start coming home in 19 months.

National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones told CNN's "State of the Union" that the July 2011 start of withdrawal was "not a cliff, it's a ramp" for beginning to turn over security responsibility to Afghan forces.

Noting the U.S. strategic interests in the region, including nuclear power Pakistan next door, Jones said: "We're going to be in the region for a long time."
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Washington (CNN) – President Obama’s national security adviser said Sunday that the administration’s announced date to begin the pull out of additional troops ordered by the president is a “glide slope” and a “ramp” to reducing forces, and not a “cliff” that would induce a precipitous decline in U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

“The president’s decision on 2011 has more do with a transition than anything else,” National Security Adviser James Jones said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union.

Asked whether the White House was committed to removing troops even if the Afghan government and Afghan security forces weren’t fully capable by mid-2011, Jones explained that the date “is not a cliff, it’s a glide slope.”

“Certainly, the president has also said that we’re not leaving Afghanistan. We are here to see that Afghanistan succeeds. We can’t want this more than the Afghans do. If [Afghan] President Karzai leads his nation the way we think he can, [then] this is a very achievable objective.”

“2011 is not a cliff, it’s a ramp,” Jones reiterated when asked to respond to criticism that the president’s new strategy is flawed because it includes a withdrawal date, critical information for those who would do harm to U.S. interests in and around Afghanistan.

“Where’s the end of the ramp?” CNN Chief National Correspondent John King asked Jones.
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(CNN) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday the United States and its allies must have patience if his country is not ready to assume control of its own security by July 2011, when U.S. troops would begin leaving under President Obama's plan.

Karzai spoke to CNN's "Amanpour" program, in what was believed to be his first Western television interview since Obama's announcement last week that he will deploy an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. Obama also said the U.S. forces would begin withdrawing from Afghanistan in July 2011.

The date was not "an exit announcement," but instead a goal for Afghan forces to be able to start assuming security control from U.S.-led allied forces, Karzai said in the interview.

The United States and its allies "must have patience" and "stay with us" if Afghanistan is not ready to assume security control by then, Karzai said.

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TOPICS: Afghanistan

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Roswell, New Mexico (CNN) – Deborah Wright can't remember the exact moment, but her eyes sparkle when asked about her ambition: "I have always wanted to fly planes."

For Jon Huntsman - son of Jon Huntsman Jr., the U.S. ambassador to China and former Utah Republican governor - the spark came during family vacations to Coronado along the California coast near San Diego.

"Watching the Navy SEALs train all day and just wondering, 'What drives those guys out there?' You know? And it's just, serving your country."

To reach their goal, they spend what amounts to their freshman year of college in military uniforms, mixing a stringent class schedule with mandatory physical drills and other military-style training. And they do this far away from home and family, in a remote high desert town: Roswell, New Mexico, better known to most Americans for its UFO museum than as the home of the New Mexico Military Institute.

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Washington (CNN) – Defense Secretary Robert Gates signed an order Friday to deploy the first wave of troops to Afghanistan as part of President Barack Obama's new strategy, a defense official confirmed to CNN.

The troops from the Army and Marines will be the first of 30,000 that are to be sent to Afghanistan by summer under the plan announced by Obama this week.

An official announcement is not likely before Monday, the officials said.

Approximately 1,000 Marines are expected to deploy this month, military officials told CNN previously. The Army may not deploy the first soldiers until at least March, Army officials said Friday.

Testifying before a congressional committee, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said this week that a "significant" number of troops will arrive in the spring and summer, with the final troops moving to Afghanistan by late summer or early fall.

Meanwhile, the White House said Obama would meet with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador in Kabul, on Monday. Both are expected to testify before Congress next week.
– CNN's Mike Mount contributed to this report

TOPICS: Obama approval rating, Afghanistan

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KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) - The latest U.S. strategy for the 8-year-old war in Afghanistan will be a "fiasco" that will lead only to more dead Americans, the Taliban insurgency said Thursday.

President Barack Obama laid out plans to dispatch another 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan this week, along with an expected contribution of at least 5,000 more from NATO countries. But the Taliban, the Islamic militia now battling U.S. and allied troops there, said the plans Obama laid out aren't new and won't resolve the conflict.

"Throughout the history of Afghanistan, the Afghans have not been subjugated through deceit, ploys, material power, troop reinforcement and military might of the foreigners," Taliban leaders said in a statement released Thursday. "Therefore, the reinforcement of the American troops and other tactics will not have impact on the status quo. But the reinforcement will provide better opportunity for the mujahedeen to launch offensives."

The U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 pushed out the Taliban, which had allowed the al Qaeda terrorist network responsible for the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington to operate from its territory. The goal of the buildup Obama announced Tuesday night is to turn back the Taliban resurgence, bolster the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and allow American forces to begin withdrawing in July 2011.

But the Taliban said Obama's plan "will fail like it did previously. It will face fiasco."