Desperately Seeking a Wedge in A-Stan
By rbuscher@haleymiranda.com
AFP photo: Gen. Petraeus at a police training center in Kandahar.
From the Wall Street Journal:
"Petraeus Sharpens Afghan Strategy"
WASHINGTON—Gen. David Petraeus plans to ramp up the U.S. military's troop-intensive strategy in Afghanistan, according to some senior military officials, who have concluded that setbacks in the war effort this year weren't the result of the strategy, but of flaws in how it has been implemented.
So predictable. Of course, the lead author of counterinsurgency strategy (COIN) is going to see flaws in its implementation, not the strategy itself.
The officials said Gen. Petraeus, who took over as allied commander in Afghanistan this month and is conducting a review of the war, intends to draw on many of the same tactics he implemented to turn around the war in Iraq—and which his predecessor, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, introduced in Afghanistan.
But the officials said Gen. McChrystal put too much attention on hunting down Taliban leaders, at the expense of the U.S. counterinsurgency strategy which focuses on protecting civilians and blostering popular support for the government.
In other words, McChrystal wasn't COIN enough. Cue primal scream.
Such an assessment differs from what Gen. Petraeus led us to believe at his Senate rubber stamp, I mean, confirmation, hearing. There, Petraeus vowed to continue the "great work" of McChrystal. Now it seems Petraeus believes McChrystal's problem was he was too soft ... on hearts and minds.
Supporters of Gen. McChrystal dispute that assessment, dismissing any notion there were flaws in how he fought the war.
Read: I'm just as population-centric as you are! The decisive terrain is the human terrain! XOXOX!
Gen. Petraeus's determination to intensify a strategy focused on driving a wedge between the Taliban and the Afghan people could be tricky to pull off, given --
Let's play a game: could be tricky to pull off, given 1) the affinity between the Taliban and the Afghan people? 2) the common chasm between the Taliban/Afghan people and infidel-outsiders?
Neither. The strategy could be tricky to pull off given:
the mounting political pressure in the U.S. to show results in the nearly nine-year war, and to begin drawing down troops next year.
A non-sequitor, no? It will be "tricky," to say the least, because where there's a will, there's not always a wedge. dianawest.net |
