Rahm skeptical of U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel expressed doubts on Sunday that sending more troops into Afghanistan would have the desired effect, unless there’s a credible government in the country to work with.

Emanuel told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the White House is planning additional meetings with military advisers over the next two weeks to discuss strategy in Afghanistan.

“The question at the heart is... do you have a credible Afghan partner for this process that can provide the security and the type of services that the Afghan people need?” Emanuel said.

“We would love the luxury of this debate to be reduced down to one question: additional troops, 40,000," he said. But "this is a much more complex decision…The real [question] here is not how much troops you have, but whether in fact there’s an Afghan partner.”

And, Emanuel said, Afghanistan isn't currently at the point where it can become a partner with the United States to govern the country.

"We're beginning from scratch, the starting point after eight years," Emanuel said. "There's not a security force, an army, the type of services important for the Afghans to become a true partner. So that is the question."