NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer gestures while speaking during a media conference after a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Budapest, Friday Oct. 10, 2008. NATO defense ministers on Friday agreed to authorize their troops in Afghanistan to attack the heroin trade which has been blamed for bankrolling the growing insurgency against international forces. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)NATO Cannot Be Rehabilitated -- Captain's Journal
More than five months ago on the heels of a number of bureaucratic entanglements that had slowed the progress of recently deployed Marines in Afghanistan, The Captain’s Journal asked the question Can NATO Be Rehabilitated? We also predicted that in order to give Petraeus latitude to implement counterinsurgency doctrine, we would have to bring U.S. forces out from under the command of NATO, or possibly place a U.S. General in charge of NATO forces. This has come to pass as we predicted.
We have also noted that the campaign in Afghanistan relies heavily on special forces and raids against mid-level Taliban commanders rather than contact with the population and ensuring security. In other words, it is being treated as a counter-terrorism campaign rather than a counterinsurgency campaign. Australian infantry is not even allowed to engage in kinetic operations, and must sign documentation concerning their deployment that they have not provoked such fire fights.
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My Comment: The Captain's Journal provides a valuable analysis on what is wrong in Afghanistan. His observations and comments are a must read.