WASHINGTON — Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the U.S. "probably" needs to send more troops to Afghanistan to support the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, which he called a large part of the problem there.

Appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee as part of his reconfirmation as chairman, Mullen asked the public for more time to consider whether to send more American troops, but six months after the administration announced its plan for Afghanistan, he said there should be a sense of urgency about the country.

His mixed messages appeared to reflect the Obama administration's difficulty defining a strategy for Afghanistan amid declining political and public support, mounting U.S. casualties, evidence that Karzai rigged his re-election last month, pervasive official corruption, a resurgent Taliban and halfhearted assistance from neighboring Pakistan.

If Karzai is re-elected, as appears likely, and the outcome is viewed as illegitimate, it could further undercut domestic support for the Afghanistan war and leave the White House hitched to an unpopular leader in Kabul.

Referring to Karzai, one senior defense official told McClatchy Newspapers: "We are chained to a disaster." He spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly.

Nevertheless, the administration is contemplating sending more troops to Afghanistan, and Mullen said that while the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, won't request more troops for another two weeks, he already thinks the war will require more troops based on a 60-day assessment that McChrystal submitted last month.

"A properly resourced counterinsurgency probably means more forces," Mullen told the committee, without offering any specifics. It was the strongest signal yet from the administration that it will increase its forces there.

He also said that it would take two to three years for the Afghan forces to become strong enough to change the momentum on their own.

Mullen said the United States wants to expand the Afghan army to 134,000 troops by the end of 2011. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the chairman of the armed services panel, called for expanding the Army to 250,000 by the end of 2012. Mullen said that whatever its size, the Army alone wouldn't improve security.

"I don't argue for a strong central government in Afghanistan," Mullen told Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.

Some senators asked whether the Taliban or a failing government was Afghanistan's biggest problem.

"The biggest threat, in my opinion, is not the Taliban, it's the governance. The only reason they (the Taliban) possibly could have come back is because there's been a vacuum created," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. "We could send a million troops, and that will not restore legitimacy to their government. Would you agree with that?

"That is a fact," Mullen replied.

The senior defense official told McClatchy that the administration refuses to be rushed into a decision to send more troops to Afghanistan, calling it "probably the most important foreign policy decision (President Obama) will make."

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