CIA head has mixed reviews on Afghan war

June 28, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

The U.S. has driven al-Qaida into hiding and undermined its leadership, but is struggling to oust its primary sympathizer, the Taliban, from Afghanistan, the nation’s spymaster said Sunday.

CIA Director Leon Panetta’s assessment comes as President Barack Obama advances a risky new war plan that relies on 98,000 U.S. troops to prop up the Afghan government and prevent al-Qaida from returning.

No longer overseeing the commander-in-chief’s mission is Gen. Stanley McChrystal, sacked this past week in a shake-up in U.S. military leadership after his critical comments about the White House.

“We’re seeing elements of progress, but this is going to be tough,” Panetta said.

He said al-Qaida’s evolving attack strategy increasingly relies on operatives without any record of terrorism involvement or those in the U.S. As for Osama bin Laden, Panetta said it’s been years since the U.S. had good intelligence about where he is.

Panetta estimated there are fewer than 100 al-Qaida militants operating inside Afghanistan, with the rest hiding along Pakistan’s mountainous western border. He said U.S. drone strikes and other spy operations have helped to “take down” half of al-Qaida’s senior leaders.

At the same time, Panetta offered a less upbeat assessment of the U.S. fight against the Taliban, the anti-U.S. insurgency operating inside Afghanistan’s borders.