WASHINGTON (AP) - An incoming adviser to the top U.S. general in Afghanistan predicted Thursday that the United States will see about two more years of heavy fighting and then either hand off to a much improved Afghan fighting force or "lose and go home."
David Kilcullen, a counterinsurgency expert who will assume a role as a senior adviser to Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has been highly critical of the war's management to date. He outlined a "best-case scenario" for a decade of further U.S. and NATO involvement in Afghanistan during an appearance at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
Read more ....
My Comment: David Kilcullen is right .... Afghanistan is a 10 year (plus) involvement. It will also (in my opinion) probably surpass the cost of the Iraq War in both lives and monies spent.
This is very depressing news, and I am sure that President Obama must also now know that continuing the Afghanistan War for the next 10 years will probably cost 2,000+ more American lives, and will involve an expenditure that will run into the hundreds of billions of dollars .... and this may even be the positive point of view.
My uncle served as a senior commander in the Soviet Union's occupation and warfare in Afghanistan from 1986-1988 ..... his present assessment of U.S. and NATO prospects are very bleak. The Soviet Army went "Roman" on the Afghan people, slaughtering hundreds of thousan
David Kilcullen, a counterinsurgency expert who will assume a role as a senior adviser to Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has been highly critical of the war's management to date. He outlined a "best-case scenario" for a decade of further U.S. and NATO involvement in Afghanistan during an appearance at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
Read more ....
My Comment: David Kilcullen is right .... Afghanistan is a 10 year (plus) involvement. It will also (in my opinion) probably surpass the cost of the Iraq War in both lives and monies spent.
This is very depressing news, and I am sure that President Obama must also now know that continuing the Afghanistan War for the next 10 years will probably cost 2,000+ more American lives, and will involve an expenditure that will run into the hundreds of billions of dollars .... and this may even be the positive point of view.
My uncle served as a senior commander in the Soviet Union's occupation and warfare in Afghanistan from 1986-1988 ..... his present assessment of U.S. and NATO prospects are very bleak. The Soviet Army went "Roman" on the Afghan people, slaughtering hundreds of thousan
My Comment: David Kilcullen is right .... Afghanistan is a 10 year (plus) involvement. It will also (in my opinion) probably surpass the cost of the Iraq War in both lives and monies spent.
This is very depressing news, and I am sure that President Obama must also now know that continuing the Afghanistan War for the next 10 years will probably cost 2,000+ more American lives, and will involve an expenditure that will run into the hundreds of billions of dollars .... and this may even be the positive point of view.
My uncle served as a senior commander in the Soviet Union's occupation and warfare in Afghanistan from 1986-1988 ..... his present assessment of U.S. and NATO prospects are very bleak. The Soviet Army went "Roman" on the Afghan people, slaughtering hundreds of thousands and displacing millions. They pulled all the stops to win .... and they lost.
His explanation is simple .... the Pashtuns (who make up the majority of the country) hate foreighners .... and this is a sentiment that will never change. Even if the U.S. and NATO are there with the best of intentions .... it is not going to change a way of life and perception that has existed for centuries. They will take your aid and money .... but they will betray you in the end.
Faced with this prospect .... I had mentioned in previous posts that the U.S. will start to lay the groundwork to leave by 2011. It appears that David Kilcullen is also hinting that this may be the eventual outcome for the U.S. in two years.
This is very depressing news, and I am sure that President Obama must also now know that continuing the Afghanistan War for the next 10 years will probably cost 2,000+ more American lives, and will involve an expenditure that will run into the hundreds of billions of dollars .... and this may even be the positive point of view.
My uncle served as a senior commander in the Soviet Union's occupation and warfare in Afghanistan from 1986-1988 ..... his present assessment of U.S. and NATO prospects are very bleak. The Soviet Army went "Roman" on the Afghan people, slaughtering hundreds of thousands and displacing millions. They pulled all the stops to win .... and they lost.
His explanation is simple .... the Pashtuns (who make up the majority of the country) hate foreighners .... and this is a sentiment that will never change. Even if the U.S. and NATO are there with the best of intentions .... it is not going to change a way of life and perception that has existed for centuries. They will take your aid and money .... but they will betray you in the end.
Faced with this prospect .... I had mentioned in previous posts that the U.S. will start to lay the groundwork to leave by 2011. It appears that David Kilcullen is also hinting that this may be the eventual outcome for the U.S. in two years.