Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- The Afghan war likely will require more U.S. troops to push back the Taliban and reduce the climate of fear in the country, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen told lawmakers.

“A properly resourced counter-insurgency probably means more forces,” Mullen told the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington today. Mullen said he didn’t yet know what the ratio would be of combat soldiers versus trainers to expand the Afghan forces.

Increasing the size of the Afghan National Army to 250,000 and expanding the police force would require 2,000 to 4,000 more trainers than the U.S. and its allies have on the ground, he said in a hearing to consider confirming him for a second term as head of the Joint Chiefs.

The need for more American troops seven months after President Barack Obama ordered reinforcements to Afghanistan reflects how fast the Taliban insurgency is gaining ground. As American public opinion turns wary of the war, Mullen and other administration officials are under pressure to limit requests for more troops.

“It makes it more difficult, it seems to me, for members of Congress to simply say no,” said Mark Schneider, senior vice president at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group policy organization in Washington. “It also probably increases their desire to hear the president convincingly lay out” his war objectives.

Reinforcements Sent

Obama authorized 17,000 additional combat troops for the war soon after he took office, along with 4,000 trainers, saying the conflict had been starved of resources following the initial invasion after the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaeda attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

Obama, who is considering an assessment of the conflict submitted by his new top military commander in Afghanistan, Army General Stanley McChrystal, has laid out a goal of eliminating the threat of al-Qaeda and its havens.

The administration hasn’t decided whether to add more U.S. troops, and McChrystal hasn’t submitted his troop-level request, Mullen told the committee. The recommendation will come to the Joint Chiefs through General David Petraeus, the former top commander in Iraq who now heads the U.S. military’s operations in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Mullen to Gates

Mullen will then make a recommendation to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who will submit a proposal to the president.

While Gates hasn’t decided on any additional troops, his thinking is “evolving,” said Geoff Morrell, a spokesman for the Defense Department.

Gates is less concerned than he had been before McChrystal took over that more forces would alienate the Afghan populace, Morrell told reporters at the Pentagon after Mullen’s testimony today. McChrystal has convinced him that it is the actions of the forces rather than large numbers that concern Afghans.

Asked to comment on Mullen’s remarks, a White House spokesman said Obama hadn’t received a request for additional forces. “No decision about resources is imminent,” spokesman Bill Burton said in an e-mail.

Mullen also said the Taliban has flourished in Afghanistan because the Afghan government lacks legitimacy at all levels. The U.S. is also trying to expand economic-development assistance in the impoverished country.

Clinton Weighs In

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said her department is reviewing the status of its efforts in Afghanistan to strengthen civilian control and bolster social services and the economy.

“That will continue for some time,” Clinton told reporters at the State Department today. “Everyone is providing their best ideas.”

Mullen, 62, has said previously that the U.S. military must show progress in Afghanistan in the next year to 18 months to demonstrate the potential for success.

The last of the troops sent by Obama, primarily trainers, will arrive by the end of this month, Mullen said. The U.S. expects to have 68,000 forces in Afghanistan by the end of the year, compared with about 130,000 still remaining in Iraq.

Mullen said a British general is developing a plan to persuade low- to mid-level Taliban fighters to abandon the Islamist militia.

“We can accomplish the mission we’ve been assigned,” Mullen said. “But we will need resources matched to the strategy.”

Pakistan Waits

The Afghan people and their neighbors across the border in Pakistan are watching closely for evidence of whether the U.S. is committed to the fight against the Taliban insurgency that previously harbored al-Qaeda. The people will decide which side to support based on which side will be there in the long term, Mullen told the committee today.

“If we allow the Taliban to take control and run Afghanistan again, I think the likelihood that they would return to that safe haven again” is high, he said.

Mullen discouraged solutions such as those proposed by Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat who chairs the committee, to focus on training Afghan security forces before deciding on more combat troops.

The rising level of U.S. and allied casualties in Afghanistan has weighed on the debate over the war.

Caution on Training

Success will require counter-insurgency tactics to protect civilians even while the U.S. and its allies train the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police, Mullen said.

“If we’re just training, I think the security environment will deteriorate,” he said.

Senator John McCain of Arizona, the top Republican on the committee, urged the administration to decide quickly on the troops and equipment needed and to see the fight through.

Leaving Afghanistan in the past “cost us terribly,” McCain said. “We can’t make this fatal mistake again.”

Mullen took office as the top military adviser to President George W. Bush in October 2007 after serving as chief of naval operations for more than two years. He replaced one- term predecessor Peter Pace as the administration faced criticism over its handling of the war in Iraq.

Armed Services Committee members said they would back Mullen for a second term, and Levin told the admiral the panel would vote unanimously for him.

Mullen drew criticism last month for remarks saying the security situation in Afghanistan is “serious and it is deteriorating.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Viola Gienger in Washington at vgienger@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 15, 2009 18:17 EDT