September 2, 2009 - U.S. officials are planning to add as many as 14,000 combat troops to the American force in Afghanistan by sending home support units and replacing them with "trigger-pullers," defense officials say.

The move would beef up the combat force in Afghanistan without increasing the overall number of U.S. troops - an issue as public support for the war slips. Many of the noncombat jobs are likely to be filled by private contractors, which is a source of controversy in Iraq and a growing issue in Afghanistan.

The plan represents a key step in the Obama administration's drive to counter Taliban gains and demonstrate progress in the war nearly eight years after it began.

Forces that could be swapped out include units assigned to noncombat duty, such as guards or lookouts, or those on clerical and support squads.

"It makes sense to get rid of the clerks and replace them with trigger-pullers," said one Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the plans haven't been announced.

The changes won't offset the potential need for additional troops in the future, but they could reduce the size of any request from Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander, officials said.

The planned changes in the mix of U.S. troops are part of what military officials call a "force optimization" review, a critical middle step between the assessment and a request for additional troops, designed to ensure that the existing force is operating as efficiently as possible.

The plan reflects the view that much of the military bureaucracy that has built up in Afghanistan is no longer useful.

Defense officials said they wouldn't know how many positions and jobs might be eliminated until the McChrystal review was completed. But two officials estimated the total could be between 6,000 and 14,000 troops.

"We have asked all commands to take a hard look to reduce redundancy, eliminate any excess and generally look for efficiencies in all our structures," said Army Col. Wayne Shanks, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Shanks declined to outline any specific groups of soldiers or Marines that were no longer needed.

Raising the overall number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan is controversial. President Barack Obama has ordered an additional 21,000 troops to Afghanistan to bring the U.S. force to about 68,000. There are about 38,000 non-U.S. NATO troops there.

Complicating the decision to approve more troops is a decline in public support as the war's casualties soar. August was the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the war began, with 49 killed. According to a new CNN poll, 57 percent of Americans oppose the war, up from 46 percent at the end of last year.

But advisers to the military command said that McChrystal needs a larger force to carry out his counterinsurgency strategy - potentially as many as 20,000 more troops. Culling unneeded units would allow McChrystal to increase U.S. combat power without running afoul of political sensitivities at home.

One defense official said the effort was designed not to reduce the size of any potential troop increases but to ensure that everyone sent was in a "mission critical" job.

"If he is asking for more, he certainly wants to ensure we are maximizing the use of everyone that is here now," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Any necessary job left vacant could be filled by hiring Afghans or using military contractors, officials said.

Contractor concerns

But contractors serving in some capacities, notably security guards working in Iraq, have been accused of wrongdoing and excessive violence.

In Afghanistan, a government watchdog group said Tuesday that many of the 450 private guards employed by a subsidiary of U.S.-based Wackenhut Services Inc. have engaged in lewd and drunken behavior. The workers guard the U.S. Embassy in Kabul under a $189 million contract.

State Department officials said they were investigating the allegations.

Critics have charged that the military has relied too heavily on contractors, handing over too many responsibilities to outsiders.

A Congressional Research Service report last month found that there were more Pentagon contractors than U.S. military personnel serving in Afghanistan.

Election complaints

Questions about the legitimacy of last month's Afghan presidential election could also undermine support for the U.S. military effort.

More than 2,000 voting complaints have poured into the Electoral Complaints Commission, a U.N.-backed body given the responsibility of determining the validity of election misconduct claims.

One handwritten account submitted to the commission tells of a gunman turning up at a polling place. Another describes a candidate brazenly handing out cash bribes. Yet another reports a ballot box filled with votes only moments after the start of polling.

With nearly half the vote counted, President Hamid Karzai was polling around 46 percent. That falls short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff with his principal rival, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, but has him within striking distance of victory.

If the total count puts Karzai over the top, many fear an explosion of violence by followers of Abdullah that could quickly take on ethnic overtones. Abdullah is closely identified with the Tajik minority; Karzai is a Pashtun, the country's largest ethnic group.

Abdullah has repeatedly stated that the only way Karzai could win the election outright would be by committing massive fraud.

Daily developments

An American service member died Tuesday of wounds suffered in a bombing the day before in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said.

Cultivation of opium in Afghanistan has fallen sharply this year, in large part because an excess supply of the drug has pushed down prices to a 10-year low, according to a U.N. report scheduled to be released today.

Los Angeles Times