U.S. Marines Capt. J.R. Farris, left, and Cpl. M.A. Madding return fire from behind a primary school wall as Taliban fighters attack them and soldiers from the Afghan National Army as they leave the school in the village of Aliabad in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan's Kunar province after the Afghan National Army and their U.S. Marine trainers distributed U.S. donated school supplies on Saturday, May 16, 2009. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)From Yahoo News/AP:
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says he needs to see how fast Afghanistan can be stabilized and led toward a more democratic government before deciding whether more troops are needed.
In an interview with Newsweek magazine, Obama said the hardest thing he has had to do so far in his administration was to order 17,000 troops to Afghanistan on top of an estimated 38,000 that were already in Afghanistan. The interview was released on the Web Saturday.
He did not rule out the possibility of sending even more troops, while stressing such a decision was premature at this point and that U.S. military action is not the only answer to bringing stability to the region.
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My Comment: You cannot win an insurgency war without using a counter-insurgency strategy. And while President Obama would prefer to use a non-military tactic to stabilize the region through aid and humanitarian assistance, without security all of these dreams and agendas will not be fulfilled.
U.S. Commanders in Afghanistan have been screaming for extra troops for the past 6 months .... but the surge that is coming in is half of what has been requested. The hoped for allied participation is sporadic and half hearted at best .... The Canadians are making plans to leave in 2011. The Brits cannot adequately supply their troops. The Germans have rules of engagement that do not permit them to seek and destroy the enemy. The Aussies are upping their participation .... but in the whole scheme of things it is (unfortuinately) very small.
This is where I find myself at a disconnect with President Obama's policies. The vision is there on what needs to be done .... but the strategy to fulfill this vision is completely lacking .... and from my point of view, will ultimately doom the military campaign in Afghanistan.