U.S. commander orders up plans on Pakistan

The Taliban generally has staged stepped-up offensives in the spring, when the weather is more favorable for ground movement, although an anticipated offensive last spring did not materialize.

U.S. officials have said in recent days that they do expect a spring offensive in the southern area of Afghanistan, a traditional Taliban stronghold where fighting is most intense. That is one reason Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week approved the deployment of 2,200 more Marines to the southern sector, where NATO forces are in command.

In all, there are about 28,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, of whom roughly half are under Rodriguez's command. Rodriguez said he needs no more U.S. troops in his area but looks forward to having two more Afghan National Army brigades, due to begin operating in his sector this spring.

Rodriguez also said he sees no sign that the United States is preparing to send forces into Pakistan without the Pakistan government's approval.

"We're not planning that," he said. "Pakistan is a sovereign government, and we have no plans that I'm involved in or have even heard of to do anything like that."

On Capitol Hill, the House Armed Services Committee heard testimony from retired Army Lt. Gen. David Barno, a former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The committee chairman, Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., opened the session with an expression of concern about trends in Afghanistan.

"I believe that we currently risk a strategic failure in Afghanistan and that we must do what it takes to avoid this disastrous outcome," Skelton said in a prepared statement. "We must re-prioritize and shift needed resources from Iraq to Afghanistan. We must once again make Afghanistan the central focus in the war against terrorism — our national security and Afghanistan's future are at stake."

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