President Barack Obama addresses reporters with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai (left) and Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari (right) at the White House in WashingtonFrom Yahoo News/AP:
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is struggling to confront a central reality of the Afghanistan war it inherited — that more troops, more aid and a retooled strategy alone are not enough.
It wants to energize the effort with new ideas, too — and do it before American public patience runs out.
It's a grim given that U.S. casualties are likely to increase in the months ahead as additional soldiers and Marines arrive to take on the Taliban in their southern strongholds. Already some prominent members of Congress — including from Obama's own party — are questioning whether Afghanistan is a lost cause.
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My Comment: I was surprised to read this story from the AP. Serious discussions/analysis on the problems that are present in Afghanistan have been mainly the sole domain of a few military/national security bloggers. The fact that it is now in the main stream media tells me that President Obama's administration is deeply concerned on what is evolving in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and are now leaking their concerns to the media.
I guess they now realize that
It wants to energize the effort with new ideas, too — and do it before American public patience runs out.
It's a grim given that U.S. casualties are likely to increase in the months ahead as additional soldiers and Marines arrive to take on the Taliban in their southern strongholds. Already some prominent members of Congress — including from Obama's own party — are questioning whether Afghanistan is a lost cause.
Read more ....
My Comment: I was surprised to read this story from the AP. Serious discussions/analysis on the problems that are present in Afghanistan have been mainly the sole domain of a few military/national security bloggers. The fact that it is now in the main stream media tells me that President Obama's administration is deeply concerned on what is evolving in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and are now leaking their concerns to the media.
I guess they now realize that
Read more ....
My Comment: I was surprised to read this story from the AP. Serious discussions/analysis on the problems that are present in Afghanistan have been mainly the sole domain of a few military/national security bloggers. The fact that it is now in the main stream media tells me that President Obama's administration is deeply concerned on what is evolving in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and are now leaking their concerns to the media.
I guess they now realize that failure in either one and/or both of these countries can result in the complete undermining of his administration's agenda .... both domestic and foreign. In addition .... because of its terrorism component .... any miscalculation can also mean disaster on the home front and political suicide for the party in power.
Effective war innovations and new strategies are necessary. But what those innovations and strategies are will probably become known to us in the next few months.
My Comment: I was surprised to read this story from the AP. Serious discussions/analysis on the problems that are present in Afghanistan have been mainly the sole domain of a few military/national security bloggers. The fact that it is now in the main stream media tells me that President Obama's administration is deeply concerned on what is evolving in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and are now leaking their concerns to the media.
I guess they now realize that failure in either one and/or both of these countries can result in the complete undermining of his administration's agenda .... both domestic and foreign. In addition .... because of its terrorism component .... any miscalculation can also mean disaster on the home front and political suicide for the party in power.
Effective war innovations and new strategies are necessary. But what those innovations and strategies are will probably become known to us in the next few months.