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McChrystal article renews attention to split with Biden over Afghanistan
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In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, the commander in Afghanistan, General McChrystal, responds to a question about Vice President Biden, and says, "who is that?" An aide jumps in saying, is that "Bite Me?" These and other words of disdain for the Vice President and other policy advisors, are seen as the kind of frustration facing commanders from the slow progress in the enlarged effort in Afghanistan. It also brings to the fore the serious questions that have always remained, some raised by Biden, Reidel and others, of how any kind of success could be achieved without a reliable partner in the Afghan government, with the complicated situation in Pakistan where the Intelligence Services pursued a different agenda from that of the government, and with little interest from the people in the rural areas in a vast rural mountainous country, Kabul a little urban dot in a huge landscape of deserts and mountains. See the groups and links for Afghanistan and Pakistan for background.
A must read from soviet archives about a Soviet general making the same request McChrystal is making.
10/20/2008
With 110,000 troops in Afghnistan, Soviet general Akhromeyev made the request for more troops in the seventh year of a nine year Soviet Afghan conflict. The Soviets could not maintain political control outside the provincial capitals as the insurgents simply disappeared into the hills, in so vast a country, is how he put it to the Soviet Politburo. In th same manner Russian Ambassador to Kabul, Kabulov, who was the KGB chief in Kabul during the soviet Afghan conflict, says there is an "irrtitive allergy" to foreigners for Afghans in the villages and hills that makes a large foreign presence costly and dangerous approach. A must read as the US is at a similiar juncture in its version of the Afghan conflict, and bad choices could prove very costly for the country as it did for the soviets.
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The language is strong and rejects McChrystal's appraisal that additional troops can make the difference considering the failure of the Karzai government and the poor prospects for the Afghan army.
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Veteran reporter Dexter Filkins of the NYT talks with McChrystal and looks at the war upfront.
09/07/2008
Dexter Wilkins author of "The Forever War," reports what he has found. One of the things he says is that McChrystal has not thought through the implications for his more boots on the ground policy, when the Karzai government is increasingly seen as an illegitimate and unpopular government. McChrystal's background as a Special Forces commander has not prepared him for grasping its implications. The other is the allergy of the Afghan people to foreign boots, and the vast mountainous terrain, total breakdown or lack of infrastructure, and a people tired of the war. The Pashtuns in Pakistan can be added to this picture. The economic development programs in rural areas are faltering. This may make the Iraqi solution of Petraeus unworkable in Afghanistan, something else may be needed.
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Some successes in counterinsurgency do not make up for the lack of an alternative in governance that wins credibility in Afghanistan, among the people.
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A new American effort in Afghanistan with Defense Secretary Gates' policy and General McChrystal in the field- 2009-2010
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The head of the Special Forces Operations Command for five years from 2003 to 2008 is now the new commander in Afghanistan. He is known for his hands on approach, intellect, relentless energy, and being always in the field, using networking and coordination to leverage his efforts. He comes from afamily of West Pointers, his father being a General in the second world war. Defense Secretary Gates who made the change putting General Petraeus in charge in Iraq to bring a younger officer with new ideas is now doing the same with replacing McKiernan and bringing in McChrystal. Gates is also bringing fresh thinking to the Defense Department and American defense policy.
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Richard Holbrooke and America's policy in Pakistan and Afghanistan
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Kristof of the New York Times brings out some of Holbrooke's ideas and understanding of the conflicts in South Asia which have never before been disclosed. Holbrooke preferred a diplomatic settlement and reconciliation policy for the region and believed this was the only policy that would work. He saw the emphasis on the military in the Obama administration's approach, first with Gen. McChrystal and then with Gen. Petraeus, as the wrong way to bring peace to the region. Throughout his diplomacy he earned the respect of Pakistanis he worked with, as he worked to find a diplomatic solution similiar to the one he helped build in the .ethnically fragmented Yugoslavia.
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April 2010 Defense Department biannual report on the war in Afghanistan.
04/29/2010
It shows little progress from the escalated effort, and the critical fact of the lack of acceptance of the Karzai government remains. Of 92 districts assessed in this report none are sympathetic to the Karzai government.
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