Defense chief offers indirect criticism of general

Defense Secretary Robert Gates Monday said top military and defense officials will advise President Obama as he formulates a new strategy for Afghanistan, but he stressed that those conversations should be done in private.

"It is imperative that all of us taking part in these deliberations, civilian and military alike, provide our best advice to the president candidly but privately," Gates said during remarks Monday morning at the Association of the United States Army annual meeting.

His comments came as Republican lawmakers clamor for public testimony from Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, on what resources and strategy he believes are needed to win the eight-year-old war.

While Gates did not mention McChrystal by name, his comments appeared directed at the commander, who last week used a public appearance in London to shoot down proposals that would limit the U.S. military presence or mission in Afghanistan.

The general's public comments also appeared to prompt National Security Adviser James Jones, a former Marine Corps commandant, to tell CNN Sunday, "Ideally, it's better for military advice to come up through the chain of command."

In Monday's remarks, Gates said Afghanistan, where violence has increased 60 percent in the last year, is on a "worrisome trajectory," and he called Obama's decision on how to handle the war "among the most important of his presidency."

Gates added that, whatever the decision, the military will "salute and execute those decisions faithfully and to the best of our ability."

At the same conference Monday, Army Chief of Staff George Casey avoided making any pronouncements on the Army's ability to send more troops to Afghanistan, saying he did not want to "presage" any conversations he has with the White House.

But the four-star general, who two years ago declared that his heavily deployed service was "out of balance," said the Army is now better able to respond to any "unexpected demands," thanks in large part to a significant increase in personnel since 2007.

"We're better off than we were two years ago," he told reporters.

Casey said the Army still wants to increase soldiers' time at home between deployments, with the goal by 2011 to have most combat troops spend almost twice as much time at home as they do overseas. But he also indicated that sending more soldiers to Afghanistan would make achieving that goal more challenging.