Ensign sees long stay in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON — U.S. troops are likely to remain in Afghanistan longer than in Iraq partly because U.S. allies in Afghanistan are reluctant to fight, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said Tuesday.

Ensign, who returned from a four-day trip to Afghanistan and Iraq, said he is “very, very concerned” about Afghanistan and the situation there is worse than in Iraq.

“I personally will predict that we’re going to have to change what we’re doing in Afghanistan to be successful there,” Ensign said.

The southern part of Afghanistan is particularly worrisome, Ensign said.

Britain and Canada are doing their part in Afghanistan, Ensign said, but other allies are not.

“The other countries have different rules of engagement; they’re more peacekeeping — they’re literally not aggressive enough to take on the Taliban,” Ensign said, calling them “too risk averse.”

More U.S. troops are likely to be needed in Afghanistan, Ensign said, and they should not necessarily come by way of Iraq.

“If other NATO countries are not stepping up, take some of our resources from NATO and put them in Afghanistan,” he said.

Ensign’s grim assessment of Afghanistan stood in stark contrast to his view of Iraq.

“I think Afghanistan is a much longer-term project. It’s a much harder country.”

Iraq is making progress militarily, economically and politically, Ensign said.

“All of the signs that I saw in Iraq point toward … a stable Iraq with a democratically elected government that has people in Iraq who believe in Iraq — who don’t believe just in their tribes,” Ensign said.

But Ensign said Iraqi military and political leaders told him and Republican Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Jim DeMint of South Carolina that a U.S. withdrawal in the near future would be “a complete disaster.”

“They are very, very afraid that the Democrats are going to win the election back here,” Ensign said. “They are terrified that that will happen. They think it would be tragic for the situation in Iraq.”