US general sends Afghan war review to Pentagon

Source: AP

US general sends Afghan war review to Pentagon

(AP) – 29 minutes ago

KABUL — NATO says the top commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan has finished his 60-day strategic review of the war and that it is now being sent up the chain of command to the Pentagon and NATO headquarters.

A NATO statement released Monday said U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal reports the situation is "serious" but that success is achievable. McChrystal says success demands a revised strategy, commitment and resolve.

NATO says the assessment was requested by the U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and NATO headquarters and that it seeks to reduce the capability of insurgents, including al-Qaida.

NATO officials say the review does not ask for more troops, an issue that will be considered separately.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvWEqwq3CrRvaQCmt21MfoYhjZJQD9ADQUF00

US 'needs fresh Afghan strategy'

A top US general in Afghanistan has called for a revised military strategy, suggesting the current one is failing.

In a strategic assessment, Gen Stanley McChrystal said that, while the Afghan situation was serious, success was still achievable.

The report has yet not been published, but sources say Gen McChrystal sees protecting the Afghan people against the Taliban as the top priority.

The report does not carry a direct call for increasing troop numbers.

"The situation in Afghanistan is serious, but success is achievable and demands a revised implementation strategy, commitment and resolve, and increased unity of effort," Gen McChrystal said in the assessment.

Copies of the document have been sent to Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

<more>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8230017.stm

So we can have more gold star mothers

And have your child come home in a box

Afghanistan strategy not working, US commander McChrystal to tell Obama

Top American commander to liken US military to bull charging at matador
Mark Tran
guardian.co.uk, Monday 31 August 2009


The current US military strategy in Afghanistan is not working, America's top commander is expected to admit in a review to be presented to Barack Obama in the next few days.

According to reports leaked to the BBC, General Stanley McChrystal will liken the US military to a bull charging at the matador-like Taliban and slightly weakened with each "cut" it receives. The review is also expected to confirm that protecting the Afghan people against the Taliban must be the top priority.

US officials have spoken openly about the failing war effort in Afghanistan and McChrystal's report will be a distillation of their strong misgivings. He says the aim should be for Afghan forces to take the lead, but that the Afghan army will not be ready for three years and the police will need longer.

The report does not mention increasing troop numbers, but the implication is that more soldiers will be needed to turn around an unsuccessful strategy. Officers in Afghanistan consider much of the effort of the last eight years wasted, with too few troops deployed and many of them placed in the wrong regions and given the wrong orders.

Any recommendation of a troop increase would come against a background of growing scepticism about the war, with the latest Washington Post-ABC news poll showing that 49% of Americans now think the fight in Afghanistan is worthwhile. Obama appointed McChrystal to turn around a war that is sucking in more and more western troops with litte discernible progress against the Taliban, which has proven to be much more resilient and organised than expected.

<snip>

"Over the next 12 to 15 months, among the things you absolutely, positively have to do is persuade a sceptical American public that this can work, that you have a plan and a strategy that is feasible," Stephen Biddle, a military expert who advises the US-led command in Afghanistan, told the McClatchy-Tribune news service.

<more>

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/31/general-mcchrystal-afghanistan-bull

Obama must stop his illegal and immoral war!

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

The guy in charge of US troops in Afghanistan say the current strategy is failing, and all it can get is 4 replies in 7 hours?

This is leading the news bulletins in the UK. Is Afghanistan really that far off DUer's radar these days?

OK, here's some analysis:

Surprised?

There are far too many people here who really don't live in the world; they live in their TV sets.

When, for whatever reason, AfPak becomes 'cable catnip', DUers will weigh in by regurgitating whatever mediated nonsense the military-industrial-media complex tells them.

I'll continue to post things I read that I think are interesting & informative. Thanks for posting yours.

:hi:

US commander in Afghanistan proposes revamped strategy

General Stanley McChrystal acknowledged drawbacks of the approach used for the past eight years

guardian.co.uk, Monday 31 August 2009 19.53 BST
Article history

The new US commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, today submitted an eagerly-awaited assessment of the war in Afghanistan that acknowledges the disastrous approach of the past eight years and proposes a completely revamped strategy.

The revised strategy, in the face of the Taliban's expanding influence and waning support for the Kabul government, switches the emphasis from engaging directly with militants to winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan population, officials in Washington and at Nato headquarters said.

McChrystal graphically portrays the recent strategy of western forces as the equivalent of a lumbering bull attacking a matador's cape, gradually tiring and finally being killed off.

Separate from his assessment submitted today, McChrystal is to go to Washington later this month to advise President Barack Obama on whether he needs more troops on top of the 108,000 international troops already there.

..
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/31/afghanistan-mcchrystal-strategy

Apparently the Resistance mines the roads.

Then the U.S. Army drives its tanks, trucks etc through the fields ruining the crops to get away from being blown up.

Thus the farmers and every one else is pissed, at the cowboys driving the tanks and destroying everything "for Freedom"

WHO THE FUCK TEACHES THEM THIS SHIT?

That's what the Soviets thought. Then they met the newfangled shoulder fired missiles we gave the Taliban.

Some places on the planet may just have to be fundamentalist dumps for a while and exist that way without our intervention. I don't see the sense in breaking our economy to fund this war. The oil guys have us involved so they can get their hands on the Caspian Bay oil, but if the gamble doesn't pay off we're all screwn. Correction-- they can use their millions to go live somewhere nice, and the rest of us will be stuck in a broken country clinging to religion and guns.