This isn't a strategy. It's a long death sentence for our troops and the region.

From "The Velvet Junta" by Jeff Huber at Daily Kos:
<snip>
Obama said that he would only approve another escalation if he has "absolute clarity about what the strategy is going to be." McChrystal’s report is incoherent on the subject of strategy.

It says, "We must conduct classic counterinsurgency operations" and states that success depends not on "seizing terrain or destroying insurgent forces" but on "gaining the support of the people." That’s laughable in light of the fact that classic clear-hold-build counterinsurgency operations involve seizing terrain and destroying the insurgent forces that occupy it.

The notion that we can separate the Afghan people from the insurgents is as ludicrous as the idea of invading Mexico to separate the Hispanics from the Latinos. Nor can we pretend to be the good guys when the Karzai government we prop up is as bad or worse than the insurgents. McChrystal admits that Afghans have "little reason to support their government."
<snip>
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/9/24/785842/-The-Velvet-Junta

We could be in Afghanistan until the end of time and never conquer it. It is a death trap both in terrain and in the way the country is run.

Use Google Earth or some other program that will let you zoom in on Iraq and Afghanistan. The terrain in Afghanistan is horrible to fight in. Iraq is a cakewalk comparatively in that regard.

There are a multitude of ethnic groups and warlords. We can't force them into a democracy. I don't like the idea of leaving the country to be run by sharia either. However, we are allied with countries who already do.

Occupying that country so Al Qaeda won't would tie up too many troops. McChrystal may be some genius special forces person, and he isn't stupid. He may be using this issue to force Obama's hand and make him either acquiesce to the Pentagon or pull a Truman.

If he is such a whiz at Black Ops, then he should be able to come up with a plan to use small but lethal groups to take out Al Qaeda operatives that resurface.