6 Ways the U.S. Failed in Afghanistan: Speed Read of ‘Little America’
Why is the war in Afghanistan failing? How was the 2009 troop surge sabotaged by White House and military infighting and incompetence? A nightmarish new book by Rajiv Chandrasekaran has devastating revelations.
Jul 4, 2012 4:45 AM EDT
When Washington Post senior correspondent Rajiv Chandrasekaran went to Afghanistan to report on the troop surge ordered by President Obama in 2009, he found vicious bickering in the leadership that sabotaged a peace deal, generals who dispatched troops to the wrong places, and rogue commanders who killed civilians and cost soldiers their lives. The result is Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan. The author of the National Book Award finalist Imperial Life in the Emerald City gives another nightmarish account of a failed war and squandered opportunities. Here are the most devastating revelations.
Helmand, The War’s Biggest Waste of Time
When Gen. Stanley McChrystal took command in Afghanistan in 2009, he wondered why nearly 11,000 U.S. soldiers in that year’s troop surge had been sent to a sparsely populated province called Helmand, and only 4,000 were headed to Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city. Hundreds of U.S. troops were killed or injured defending ghost towns in Helmand, for no good reason.
Blame Canada (and Britain)
In 2005 President George W. Bush decided to reduce American forces in Afghanistan and deploy them in Iraq. NATO was asked to help stabilize the region. The Canadians got Kandahar, and the British got Helmand.
The British had 9,000 troops in Helmand by 2009. Canada, on the other hand, had deployed only 2,830 soldiers to Kandahar province. Most of them were at headquarters or in support roles, while fewer than 600 were on patrol.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/04/6-ways-the-u-s-failed-in-afghanistan-speed-read-of-little-america.html
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