Top U.S. commander recommends revising Afghan drawdown plan

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• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan went before the Senate Armed Services Committee today and recommended altering the plan to withdraw American troops in that country. He also shed more light on the deadly incident earlier this week in which a civilian hospital was mistakenly attacked by U.S. aircraft.

  GEN. JOHN CAMPBELL, Commander, U.S. Forces – Afghanistan: To be clear, the decision was a U.S. decision made within the U.S. chain of command. A hospital was mistakenly struck.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  That mistake killed at least 22 people Friday in Kunduz. Today, General John Campbell, facing committee chair Senator John McCain acknowledged it was an American decision to strike.

• GEN. JOHN CAMPBELL:

  The Afghan forces on the ground requested air support from our forces that are on the ground. Even though the Afghans request that support, it still has to go through a rigorous U.S. procedure to enable fires to go on the ground.

• SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, Chair, Armed Services Committee:

  But there was no forward air controllers, American forward air controllers on the ground?

• GEN. JOHN CAMPBELL:

  Sir, we had a special operations unit that was in close vicinity that was talking to the aircraft that delivered those fires.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Initial accounts had said the AC-130 gunship fired in support of the American troops. The evolving story has led Doctors Without Borders to demand a fully independent investigation.

• New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen:

  SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D), New Hampshire: Do you have any reason to object to having an independent investigation done by the U.N. or another independent body of what happened?

• GEN. JOHN CAMPBELL:

  Ma'am, I have trust and confidence in the folks that will do the investigation for NATO, the folks that will do the investigation for DOD and the Afghan partners. And so, you know, all the very, very tough questions that we're all asking, they will get after that.

• SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN:

  But, as I understand your answer, then, you wouldn't object to and would cooperate with an independent body?

• GEN. JOHN CAMPBELL:

  I would let my higher headquarters or senior personnel make that decision.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Later, the White House announced the Justice Department is also investigating.

  The airstrikes at Kunduz came amid a pitched battle to retake the city, the first one captured by the Taliban since 2001. Campbell said, given the Taliban surge and the Islamic State's entry into Afghanistan, he's proposing extending the U.S. presence beyond what the president outlined 16 months ago.

• PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:

  By the end of 2016, our military will draw down to a normal embassy presence in Kabul, with a security assistance component, just as we have done in Iraq.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  That deadline was mentioned repeatedly today, ruefully by some.

• SEN. JOHN MCCAIN:

  I'm not making this up, as he said, just as we have done in Iraq.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Reports last night said the Obama White House is now considering a force of 5,000 troops, as Maine independent Angus King noted.

  SEN. ANGUS KING (I), Maine: In your professional military judgment, conditions on the ground at the present time would require some revision of the withdrawal plan to a Kabul-centric 1,000 personnel by the end of 2016. Is that correct?

• GEN. JOHN CAMPBELL:

  The options I provided provide pros and cons of different levels of support above and beyond the 1,000.

• SEN. ANGUS KING:

  But I'm not asking you what you recommended. I'm asking you for your professional judgment as you're sitting here today that there should be some revision to that plan.

• GEN. JOHN CAMPBELL:

  Yes, sir.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  There is no timetable on when that decision will be made.