KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is getting a close-up look in Afghanistan at what U.S. troops need as they try to stop extremists from crossing into the country from Pakistan.
Gates already was in Kabul and ready for a series of meetings as Afghan President Hamid Karzai prepared for talks at the White House in Washington, D.C., with President Barack Obama. The two leaders were expected to discuss a U.S.-led air strike in western Afghanistan earlier this week that the International Committee of the Red Cross said killed dozens of civilians, including women and children.
Gates’ trip was his first visit to Afghanistan as a member of the Obama administration and it comes as the U.S. prepares to send thousands more military forces to the country.
“We have a new policy, a new strategy, a new ambassador, and we have a lot of new troops going into the area, and I just want to go out and see for myself how they’re doing,” he told reporters in Saudi Arabia shortly before flying to Afghanistan.
He added, “I just want to keep the focus on what I’ve been talking about for months, and that is: What do we need to do to get the equipment and the support to the troops in the field so they can be successful and come home safely?”
Gates planned to meet with Gen. David McKiernan, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
He also said he wants to look at the military’s eyes-in-the-sky reconnaissance mission since ordering more drones to the country over the next several years. Most of the military’s drones are believed to fly over the Afghan-Pakistan border, and Gates said he wanted to see if any gaps in the mission needed to be filled.
“We put a lot of new stuff in there, and there’s more to come,” he said. “I just want to make sure they’re ready for it and that they’ll be able to absorb it and use it in an effective way.”
Gates is also interested in a helicopter medevac program in Afghanistan, which until recently had been unable to reliably pick up and treat wounded people within the “golden hour” that often makes the difference between life and death. He said he wants to see if additional helicopters and medical troops he ordered there recently are enough.
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