Afghan Mission Is Reviewd As Concerns Rise

[unhappycamper]

Afghan soldiers joined an American platoon last month in searching Espondi, a village in an area controlled by the Taliban.


Afghan Mission Is Reviewd As Concerns Rise
By THOM SHANKER and STEVEN LEE MYERS
Published: December 16, 2007

WASHINGTON — Deeply concerned about the prospect of failure in Afghanistan, the Bush administration and NATO have begun three top-to-bottom reviews of the entire mission, from security and counterterrorism to political consolidation and economic development, according to American and alliance officials.

The reviews are an acknowledgment of the need for greater coordination in fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, halting the rising opium production and trafficking that finances the insurgency and helping the Kabul government extend its legitimacy and control.

Taken together, these efforts reflect a growing apprehension that one of the administration’s most important legacies — the routing of Taliban and Qaeda forces in Afghanistan after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 — may slip away, according to senior administration officials.

Unlike the administration’s sweeping review of Iraq policy a year ago, which was announced with great fanfare and ultimately resulted in a large increase in troops, the American reviews of the Afghan strategy have not been announced and are not expected to result in a similar infusion of combat forces, mostly because there are no American troops readily available.

The administration is now committed to finding an international coordinator, described as a “super envoy,” to synchronize the full range of efforts in Afghanistan, and to continue pressing for more NATO troops to fight an insurgency that made this the most violent year since the Taliban and Al Qaeda were routed in December 2001.


Rest of article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/washington/16afghan.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

[izzie]

1. I did not and do not think any thing will work, Bush is 100 percent

in not doing any thing right as far as I can see.