The eight-year-old war in Afghanistan can still be won, but only with a revised strategy, the commander of US and Nato forces said today, announcing the conclusion of a long-awaited review that could see him seek more troops.
Officials gave no indication in public as to whether US army general Stanley McChrystal, who commands a force of more than 100,000 troops, would ask for still more reinforcements to carry out his new strategy.
The review is expected to spell out a completely revised approach to conducting the war, which President Barack Obama considers the main foreign policy priority of his tenure.
"The situation in Afghanistan is serious, but success is achievable and demands a revised implementation strategy, commitment and resolve, and increased unity of effort," General McChrystal said in a statement announcing the review was ready.
General McChrystal has been working on the review since Obama put him in charge of the war in June. He sent the classified document to the US military's Central Command (CentCom) responsible for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and to Nato headquarters in Brussels.
Military officials say it contains no firm targets for troop strength, but it could form the basis for a decision within weeks on future deployments - a politically fraught calculation that could mark a turning point in Mr Obama's presidency.
The report comes at a time when Afghanistan is stuck in political limbo, with the outcome as yet unclear from a presidential election on August 20th. Authorities were due later today to issue fresh results.
Incomplete results so far show President Hamid Karzai leading, but not by enough to avoid a second-round run-off against his main challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, who accuses the authorities of widespread fraud.
Returns have yet to be tallied from many areas, including much of the south, where Mr Karzai commands strong support among his fellow Pashtuns but turnout was hurt by Taliban threats of violence and accusations of fraud are most widespread.
An independent fraud watchdog, the Election Complaints Commission, is investigating nearly 2,500 allegations of abuse, including 567 it says are serious enough to affect the outcome.
Western officials initially hailed the election as a success because Taliban fighters failed to scupper it, but as fraud charges mount those assessments have become more cautious.
The 103,000 troops under General McChrystal's command in Afghanistan, include 63,000 Americans, more than half of whom arrived this year as part of an escalation strategy begun under outgoing President George W. Bush and ramped up under Mr Obama. The force is set to rise to 110,000 including 68,000 Americans by year's end.
Since taking command, General McChrystal has adjusted the focus of Western forces from hunting down insurgents to trying to protect the Afghan population, borrowing in part from US tactics in Iraq developed under CentCom commander General David Petraeus.
His review is expected to suggest concentrating forces in more heavily populated areas, and also stepping up efforts to train Afghan soldiers and police.
Speculation has swirled about whether McChrystal will conclude he needs still more troops, or whether US commanders and political leaders would give them to him if he does.
The additional US forces that have arrived so far have pushed out into formerly Taliban-held territory. Along with British troops, they have been taking by far the heaviest casualties of the war over the past two months.
Reuters