Adm. Fallon Examines Afghan Conflict, Tensions With Iran

RAY SUAREZ:

Admiral William Fallon has been the commander of U.S. Central Command, CENTCOM, since last March. He's responsible for U.S. military operations in the Middle East, including Iraq, the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and parts of Africa and Asia.

And, Admiral Fallon, welcome.

ADM. WILLIAM FALLON, Commander, U.S. Central Command:

Thanks, Ray. Good evening.

RAY SUAREZ:

Recently, we got the word that 3,200 Marines are going to be sent to bolster the American presence in southern Afghanistan. Why are they needed, five years after the defeat of the Taliban there?

ADM. WILLIAM FALLON:

Well, the situation in Afghanistan has been very complex. And we have, during this past year, I believe maintained the initiative in trying to expand stability and security there.

And I see an opportunity. The commanders on the ground see an opportunity, as we move into the springtime, to try to capitalize on the gains that we've made and the value of these two groups of Marines, one to do training which we need, training and mentoring with the Afghan security forces, and the second to provide a maneuver force to enable General McNeil, the ISAF commander there, the NATO commander, to be able to have the flexibility to deal with the situation.

It gives us opportunities in other places. For example, in this past year, the U.S. forces have shared assets between Regional Command East, which is under U.S. command, and Regional Command South.

We've had a battalion of troops operating most of the time in the south helping. And that's the most troubled area. It certainly has been in recent times.

And so our ability to provide additional troops gives us the opportunity to move out and to bolster our forces back in the east by having that battalion back there. And I think it puts us in good position to go into this next year.