How Obama's Afghan strategy is shaping up

[tekisui]

Source: Reuters

Nov 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's advisers appear to be laying the ground for a hybrid war strategy combining both counterinsurgency with counterterrorism in Afghanistan that would entail a troop increase next year.

The biggest question, officials say, is how many more troops and trainers Obama will decide to deploy.

STRATEGY

Support within the administration is growing for continuing a counterinsurgency strategy with a greater focus on protecting major Afghan population centers.

Counterinsurgency advocates include Defense Secretary Robert Gates and military leaders, including General Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Officials said this strategy could be combined with a stepped up counterterrorism campaign, advocated by Vice President Joe Biden, using unmanned aerial drones and special operations forces to combat Taliban and al Qaeda fighters in the Afghan countryside and near the border with Pakistan.

TROOPS

Officials say Obama has ruled out a troop reduction and will, at a minimum, need to send large numbers of military trainers to Afghanistan if he hopes to accelerate the expansion of the Afghan army, a top priority for his Democratic allies in Congress.

McChrystal has recommended deploying an additional 40,000 troops next year, a figure that includes trainers.

Another option, and one that may be more politically palatable for Obama and his allies, would add about 10,000 to 15,000 troops, a large portion of whom would be dedicated to training.

But officials said Obama may opt for a number in between 15,000 and 40,000.

Military commanders and lawmakers have said discussions were focused on sending two additional brigades, totaling between 10,000 to 15,000 troops, to southern Afghanistan, a key Taliban stronghold.

Another brigade also may be added in eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan.

more: http://www.reuters.com/article/joeBiden/idUSN01398226

[spanone]

1. ...and the endgame is?????????????

[tekisui]

2. Never mentioned. Biden's plan was supposed to be a way to

reduce troops and get out. Instead, they are going to increase troop numbers AND increase the drone attacks.

All without an exit strategy.:banghead:

[mix]

3. and further destabilize both Afghanistan and Pakistan nt

[dhpgetsit]

8. Afghanistan is our Tar Baby.

The more we wiggle the more we get stuck.

[mix]

9. Afghanistan is our Big Muddy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXnJVkEX8O4

[msongs]

4. Evidently none of these people have ever read the Soviet exerience there...

where they held the cities and towns and nothing else and every time they left cities and towns they were ambushed and picked off.

What is the Afghani dialect equivalent to Vietnam?

Msongs

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. If Abdullah does indeed withdraw, how do other DUers feel this impacts Obama's plans?

Does it reinforce the possible illegitimacy/corruptness of Karzai? Impact on the Afganis and their view of the US? It boggles the mind already, and this only adds to the complexity...

[tekisui]

6. Abdullah has withdrawn. And, he spoke to Obama, Clinton and Kerry

before hand. They were unsympathetic to his complaints. Clinton says the election is still legit.

The Afghan people know Karzai is not legit, and sees the US as the enforcers and defenders of a corrupt government. But, lets send more troops!

[NRaleighLiberal]

7. Exactly my fears and thoughts.

[ChiciB1]

10. To Use That Worn Out Phrase Of Old... "Say It Ain't So Joe!" I'm So

SICK of living with FEAR! Fear of more war is a horrible thought, but FEAR that America is losing it's focus is even MORE disturbing!

And to think that more and more Americans SUPPORT MORE WAR makes me want ot run and hide! Perhaps it's because so many people can actually get a job in the military!! My niece, who was once in the Army when she was younger, just re-upped because of her monetary situation! She has a 17 year old daughter that she's leaving home alone if she goes to Afghanistan!!

That's SCARY to me, and I don't know what to think about her actions! Her daughter doesn't "want" to live with any relative, her grandmother has Parkinson's and she doesn't get along with her grandfather who has re-married! She will soon be 18 in May and on her own, in downtown Jacksonville!! We offered her a home, but as many may know, teen-agers on the brink of 18 think they can "do anything" and "nothing" bad will happen!

My best wishes are with her... I'm AFRAID!!

[notesdev]

11. LOLstrategy

"Support within the administration is growing for continuing a counterinsurgency strategy with a greater focus on protecting major Afghan population centers."

That's not a strategy, that's a willful reprise of Vietnam.

Bring them home, Barack. That's the only strategy that works for America.