Bush administration reviews Afghanistan policy

New York, Sept 23(PTI) The Bush administration is
conducting major reviews over the country's war strategy and
mission in Afghanistan dealing with issues of security,
counter terrorism and development, a media report said
Tuesday.

The most ambitious of the assessments, run by the White
House, begins in earnest this week with a series of high-level
meetings, the New York Times quoted administration officials
as saying.

Officials have been directed to produce detailed
recommendations within two weeks for President George Bush and
senior advisers over issues such as American troop levels, how
billions of aid dollars are spent and how to cope with a
deteriorating security situation in neighbouring Pakistan,
according to the newspaper.

Some of the issues being studied, including proposed
increases in American troop levels in Afghanistan, have set
off internal debate and could have far-reaching consequences
for the next administration, the paper said.

Last week, Gen David D McKiernan, the top American
commander in Afghanistan, said he needed as many as 15,000
combat and support troops beyond the 8,000 additional troops
that Bush had recently approved for deployment early next
year. The general's announcement came after he sent his
request to the Pentagon; it has not yet been acted on, the
Times said.

It was only last December that the administration had
concluded its last major reassessment of Afghanistan policy.
The administration recently announced a series of changes,
including plans to double the size of the Afghan Army,
restructure the American military command there and put more
intelligence analysts on the ground to help hunt down
militants from the Taliban and Al Qaeda. P