McChrystal says Bin Laden needs to go for al-Qaeda to be stopped

Toronto News.Net
Wednesday 9th December, 2009

The top US commander in Afghanistan has told members of the US Congress that Osama Bin Laden will have to be captured or killed if the allied forces are to defeat al-Qaeda.

Testifying to the US Congress, General Stanley McChrystal said Bin Laden had become an iconic figure whose survival had emboldened al-Qaeda "as a franchising organisation across the world."

Osama Bin Laden is believed to be living in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

General McChrystal also said President Barack Obama's deployment of 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan meant success in the country was possible but would be difficult.

He told the Congressional hearing the next 18 months would be crucial in Afghanistan, but that he did not expect to need more troops to get the job done.

He said coalition forces faced a complex insurgency in a country where the citizens lacked confidence in their government.

Afghanistan's President Karzai yesterday said he hoped the US and the international community would continue funding the government as a long-term partner.

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