The forgotten war

Monday, Oct. 6, 2008 | 2:08 a.m.

The U.S. Army general who commands all American and international forces in Afghanistan last week repeated his call for more troops and supplies — and revealed a little more about why he needs them “as soon as possible.”

Gen. David McKiernan, whose repeated requests for more troops have for months fallen on deaf ears in the White House, said he needs the reinforcements to fight narcotics traffickers as well as the hordes of foreign terrorists pouring into Afghanistan across its porous border with Pakistan.

Afghanistan is the world’s leading grower of opium poppies, the source of heroin. Drug traffickers operate with the blessing of insurgents who can provide them with safe passage — for hefty fees.

McKiernan told reporters in Washington the Taliban alone will rake in about $100 million from drug traffickers this year — money that will be used to conduct attacks in Afghanistan.

Despite McKiernan’s many pleas for at least an additional 15,000 troops and more helicopters and surveillance drones, the best the White House and Pentagon have done is say help will be forthcoming sometime next year.

Meanwhile, U.S. forces are taking record casualties in Afghanistan amid a vicious upsurge in attacks. Troops aren’t the only ones being targeted. At least 30 international aid workers have been set upon and killed this year, and another 92 have been abducted.

After McKiernan briefed President Bush last week — a week in which the Pentagon announced it would keep force levels in Iraq steady by deploying 26,000 troops there beginning next summer — the president remained noncommital.

The Associated Press quoted Bush as saying nothing more substantive than that McKiernan relayed “what he’s going to need to make sure that we continue helping this young democracy succeed.”

It just defies comprehension that no one in Washington seems to be concerned about what McKiernan is saying, that the situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating rapidly. He urgently needs more troops and supplies — now, not at some vague point in the future.