Vote Dispute Complicates U.S. Debate, Senator Says

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Thursday that questions about the legitimacy of Afghan President Hamid Karzai are a major problem for the Obama administration as it debates a new Afghanistan strategy.

Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), a leading skeptic of proposals to send more U.S. combat forces to Afghanistan, also estimated that 3,000 to 4,000 additional U.S. military trainers will be needed to accelerate and expand the growth of the Afghan army and police forces. That figure is similar to the estimate of 2,000 to 4,000 put forward earlier by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Levin said that, short of sending thousands more U.S. combat troops, the administration can demonstrate "resolve" on Afghanistan by expediting the buildup of Afghan forces, providing them with additional equipment and speeding reconciliation efforts with the Taliban.

Asked about Karzai, Levin said uncertainty over whether the United States will have a solid partner in the Afghanistan leadership is "one of the really great problems that we have to solve."

He said he is not sure, in the wake of the fraud allegations in the Afghan presidential election, whether the United States can expect to have an effective ally in Karzai. "It adds huge complexity to any course of action," Levin said in a breakfast with newspaper reporters hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

Levin was speaking without knowledge of the outcome of the fraud investigation. Officials said late Thursday that the probe had reduced Karzai's share of the vote to about 47 percent, an outcome that will trigger a runoff.

During the breakfast, Levin also said he thinks that President Obama hopes to know the outcome of the election before deciding on a strategy for Afghanistan. "There is an additional benefit to deliberation, which is that you might know by the time you have to make up your mind," he said.