U.S. Notes Limited Progress in Afghan War: Debate between military, intel on Afghan, Iraq wars

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: Washington Post, Page One

By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 25, 2007; Page A01

A White House assessment of the war in Afghanistan has concluded that wide-ranging strategic goals that the Bush administration set for 2007 have not been met, even as U.S. and NATO forces have scored significant combat successes against resurgent Taliban fighters, according to U.S. officials. The evaluation this month by the National Security Council followed an in-depth review in late 2006 that laid out a series of projected improvements for this year, including progress in security, governance and the economy. But the latest assessment concluded that only "the kinetic piece" -- individual battles against Taliban fighters -- has shown substantial progress, while improvements in the other areas continue to lag, a senior administration official said.

This judgment reflects sharp differences between U.S. military and intelligence officials on where the Afghan war is headed. Intelligence analysts acknowledge the battlefield victories, but they highlight the Taliban's unchallenged expansion into new territory, an increase in opium poppy cultivation and the weakness of the government of President Hamid Karzai as signs that the war effort is deteriorating.

The contrasting views echo repeated internal disagreements over the Iraq war: While the military finds success in a virtually unbroken line of tactical achievements, intelligence officials worry about a looming strategic failure. "There is a key debate going on now between the military -- especially commanders on the ground -- and the intelligence community and some in the State Department about how we are doing," said one Afghanistan expert who has consulted with the National Security Council as it continues to "comb through conflicting reports" about the conflict.

Over the past year, all combat encounters against the Taliban have ended with "a very decisive defeat" for the extremists, Brig. Gen. Robert E. Livingston Jr., commander of the U.S. task force training the Afghan army, told reporters this month. The growing number of suicide bombings against civilians underscores the Taliban's growing desperation, according to Livingston and other U.S. commanders. But one senior intelligence official, who like others interviewed was not authorized to discuss Afghanistan on the record, said such gains are fleeting. "One can point to a lot of indicators that are positive . . . where we go out there and achieve our objectives and kill bad guys," the official said. But the extremists, he added, seem to have little trouble finding replacements....

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/11/25/ST2007112500076.html?hpid=topnews

[mbperrin]

1. Hmm. There was a little thing called the American Revolution

where nearly all combat encounters ended with decisive defeat for those upstart colonials, nearly right up until they won the war.

Does nobody at all in the current pack of hooligans read at least high school history?

[rockybelt]

2. Had

this criminal administration stayed in Afghanistan and completed the job, there would be no war in Afghanistan now. And by the way, there would be no war in Iraq either.
You would not have refugees being thrown out of Syria and being forced to go back to Baghdad. They would have never left.
You would not have militias that are armed by the US and given body armor and training to go fight AlQaeda. AlQaeda would not be there.
You would not have close to 4,000 US troops killed in Iraq. They would not have been there.
You would not have hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead.
You would not have a depleted treasury.
You would not have a broken military.

You may have had New Orleans rebuilt.
You might have had Mississippi coast rebuilt.
You might have had health care for everyone.
You might have been able to repair our infrastructure.
You might still have the respect and admiration of the rest of the world.
You might have had a united America

I might have still been complacent with my lot in life and not felt the need to scream at the top of my lungs: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. IMPEACH THESE BASTARDS AND GET US OUT OF IRAQ!!!!

[DeepModem Mom]

3. Thanks for the post, rockybelt. If only..... nt