Bush will seek $10.6 billion more aid for Afghanistan

Thursday, January 25th 2007, 5:54 am

By: News On 6

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) _ President Bush will ask Congress for $10.6 billion to help Afghanistan strengthen its security forces and rebuild from years of war, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday.

The money would be on top of $14.2 billion in aid the United States has already given to Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 that toppled the repressive Taliban.

The request, which Bush will make formally next month, comes after a year in which Taliban forces launched surprisingly fierce attacks across the country. U.S. and NATO forces are bracing for a renewed offensive by Taliban fighters in the spring

"The challenges of the last several months have demonstrated that we want to and we should redouble our efforts," Rice told reporters flying with her to Brussels for NATO meetings on Afghanistan.

Rice said that of the total, $8.6 billion would be for training and equipping Afghan police and security forces, and $2 billion would be for reconstruction. The money would be spent over the next two years.

The aid proposal also comes as the U.S. appears to be stepping up its military commitment in the country.

The Defense Department has said that 3,200 soldiers from the New York-based 10th Mountain Division already in Afghanistan would have their tour extended by four months. In a visit to Afghanistan last week, new Defense Secretary Robert Gates indicated he is likely to ask Bush for more troops for the country.

There are about 24,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the highest number since the war began in October 2001. About half are under the control of NATO, which is gradually gaining more control over operations there.

A senior State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity gave another indication that U.S. forces in Afghanistan may grow, saying, "We will not be decreasing our military commitment in Afghanistan, quite the contrary."

On Thursday, Gen. David Richards, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, said NATO-led troops battling resurgent Taliban militants will shortly be reinforced with another combat brigade. The NATO-led force is about 20 percent short of the troops levels pledged by its contributing nations.

Among other issues, Rice will raise with her NATO colleagues are the divisions within the alliance on sharing the burden in Afghanistan. More NATO countries have shown a greater willingness than others to send troops to areas of conflict.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said there is a pressing need to address the problem of high levels of opium poppy production in Afghanistan.

"Everybody understands that it's a problem that needs to be addressed," he said. "We don't want an Afghanistan (economy) that is based solely on production of narcotics and international aid."

Officials in the Afghan capital of Kabul said this week that despite pressure from the United States the country's heroin-producing poppies will not be sprayed with herbicide this year despite a record crop in 2006. Afghan officials said there would be an increased effort to destroy poppy crops with traditional techniques _ typically sending teams of laborers into fields to batter down or plow in the plants before they can be harvested.

Fueled by the Taliban, a powerful drug mafia and the need for a profitable crop that can overcome drought, opium production from poppies in Afghanistan last year rose 49 percent to 6,700 tons. That's enough to make about 670 tons of heroin, or more than 90 percent of the world's supply and more than the world's addicts consume in a year.

The U.S. budget request follows a review of U.S. policy in Afghanistan that the White House began last year.

"It had been over five years since we went into Afghanistan and the situation on the ground _ economic and security _ has changed," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council. "There's now a viable government that we're working with. Substantial progress has been made in many areas, but it's also clear that the policy needed to be reviewed, so that we continue to improve the lives of Afghan citizens."