US for action against Taliban

WASHINGTON  - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday he wants to send more troops to Afghanistan "sooner rather than later," signalling a shift in priorities from Iraq amid warnings of an accelerating Taliban threat.

Gates and Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, blamed the rising violence on the flow of Taliban and other fighters from safe havens in Pakistan, which they said had to stop.

"But clearly as the admiral said earlier there is a real need to do something on the Pakistani side of the border to bring pressure to bear on the Taliban and some of these other violent groups," Gates said.

The Secretary, however, denied as "untrue" a report that US forces were massing on the border to go into Pakistan.

"I think we are clearly working very hard to see if there are opportunities to send additional forces sooner rather than later," Gates said, adding that no decisions have been taken yet.

Mullen said: "It's a tougher fight; it's a more complex fight; and they need more troops to have the long-term impact that we all want to have there."

Mullen, who just returned from visits to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, said he expected to be able to recommend further US troop cuts this year in Iraq if security conditions continue to improve.

"Security is unquestionably and remarkably better" in Iraq, Mullen said

But he portrayed the situation in Afghanistan in more urgent terms.

"One need look no further than the well-coordinated attack on Wanat outpost this weekend to see that the enemy has grown bolder, more sophisticated and diverse," Mullen said.

"The bottom line is this: we are seeing a greater number of insurgents and foreign fighters flowing across the border with Pakistan unmolested and unhindered. This movement needs to stop," he said.

Mullen said the group that launched the attack trained in safe havens in Pakistan.

"We see this threat accelerating, almost becoming a syndicate of different groups who heretofore had not worked closely together," he said.

"It would be much better if there was that pressure on the Pakistani side. But clearly additional troops there would have a significant impact," he said.

Mullen said that in his meetings with Pakistani leaders he emphasized the need to do more to control their border. But he would not comment on their response.