KEY POINTS:
The Bush Administration is pushing for sweeping changes to the military command structure in Afghanistan, so the head of international forces would report directly to US Central Command instead of Nato.
The changes would have huge repercussions for Nato, whose officials have said Afghanistan is a "defining moment" for the organisation's ability to conduct large-scale operations abroad.
The Independent has learned the proposal to streamline the complex chain of command, enabling United States General David McKiernan to be answerable to superiors at Centcom in Tampa, Florida, rather than Nato, is before Robert Gates, the American Defence Secretary.
Gates is due in Britain today after a visit to Afghanistan where he spoke about the deteriorating security situation with senior Western officers and Afghan ministers.
At the same time, in a mark of the seriousness with which the Americans view the situation, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, flew to Pakistan from where Taleban fighters are mounting cross-border raids.
Any move to make the Afghan war a US-run operation would be controversial in some Nato countries. There is already public disquiet in countries such as Italy, Germany and Canada over the conflict.
Nevertheless, altering the command structure is an option in a wide-ranging plan by Washington to acquire greater control of the mission in Afghanistan.
A violent Taleban resurgence has made the past three months the most lethal for Western forces.
President George W. Bush has recently announced that several thousand troops will be moved from Iraq to Afghanistan, and General David Petraeus, who led the "surge" in Iraq, credited with reducing the violence there, is returning to the US in overall charge of both missions.
But it is the proposed change to the command structure in Afghanistan which is seen by the Americans as crucial to whether the Afghan mission succeeds. Officials say in Iraq, Petraeus was in sole command, which allowed him to carry out his counter-insurgency plan. But in Afghanistan different Nato countries are in charge of different regions, often with different rules. Forty nations are involved in Afghan operations.
US forces sent to Afghanistan recently from Iraq said the multi-layered command structure was stalling operations. One avenue under consideration is for Nato to continue to be in charge of matters such as logistics, force protection and public affairs while direct counter-insurgency operations would be run from Centcom by Petraeus.
- INDEPENDENT
