U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Cody Collins and Spc. Daniel Camino walk across a stream during a village assessment in Jalrez Valley, Wardak province, Afgahnistan, March 12, 2009. The soldiers, assigned to Company A, 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, focus on assessing the villages, talking with local leaders and identifying needed projects. DoD photo by Fred W. Baker IIIFrom Reuters:
KABUL (Reuters) - The top U.S. military officer said on Sunday extra troops being sent to Afghanistan this year would start to turn the tide against the Taliban-led insurgency that has been gaining ground for three years.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, was visiting Kabul with U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke a day after NATO agreed to boost troop numbers before Afghanistan's presidential election in August.
NATO leaders agreed at a summit on Saturday to deploy 3,000 more troops to help provide security for the August 20 election, the key test of U.S. success in a mission that President Barack Obama has made a centerpiece of his foreign policy.
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My Comment: I am not one to second guess what the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs may know .... but I am not optimistic. My lack of enthusiasm comes from reading and understanding what the history of the region has always been to outsiders and foreign powers .... and it does not look promising.
A surge of 21,000 soldiers into the Afghan theater is just a drop in the bucket. By itself it will not be effective against the Taliban and their allies .... and the Taliban know that they cannot stay there forever.