Top senators voice doubts about Afghan war

[unhappycamper]

Top senators voice doubts about Afghan war
By Robert Burns - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jul 14, 2010 20:34:09 EDT

WASHINGTON — Two of the Senate’s leading foreign policy experts expressed doubts Wednesday about the course of the war in Afghanistan, further complicating the Obama administration’s effort to maintain support for the conflict.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said it’s not clear that the administration has a solid strategy for prevailing, and the panel’s ranking Republican, Richard Lugar of Indiana, decried “a lack of clarity” about U.S. war goals.

Their complaints were aired at a hearing in which the administration’s special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, acknowledged that the way ahead remains in doubt.

“There are significant elements of movement forward in many areas, but I do not yet see a definitive turning point in either direction,” Holbrooke said.

On the hopeful side, he said, the pace at which NATO-trained Afghan police and army troops quit or desert has declined, yet it is too early to know whether that trend can be sustained.

[DCBob]

1. I think this is the beginning of the Dems and administration's slow backing away from this war..

I think the dicussions off camera among Democrats is how the f'ck do we get out of this without it being a complete disaster both in human terms and political terms. I suspect we will be hearing more comments like this from Dems and administration officials to prep the voters for the eventual inevitable messy withdrawal.

[unhappycamper]

2. Agreed.

I also excpect to see a lot of whoopla about the Afghan Police and Afghan Army over the next few months.

[DCBob]

4. Yep, they are going to make the case that the Afghans are ready to take over..

and even if they aren't its their country and its time they took responsibilty.. for better or worse.

[w8liftinglady]

5. well-don't shoot me-I'm just the messenger...

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/2010/sigar-audit-10-11.pdf
-snip-
What SIGAR Found
As the United States and international community aim to transfer security responsibility to Afghan security forces, having a reliable system for monitoring progress toward that objective is critical. The CM rating system has not provided reliable or consistent assessments of ANSF capabilities. For example:
 Measurements used in the assessment system have overstated operational capabilities.
 Top-rated ANSF units have not indicated a capability to sustain independent operations.
 The CM rating system has inadvertently created disincentives for ANSF development.
 ANSF capability reports have included outdated assessment data.
In addition to these weaknesses, serious challenges affect U.S. and Coalition assessment efforts, including security conditions, mentor shortages, and inadequate training. Further, systemic ANSF deficiencies have undermined efforts to develop unit capabilities. These include logistics problems, personnel attrition, inadequate personnel authorizations, infrastructure deficiencies, corruption, drug abuse, and illiteracy. In late April 2010, IJC replaced the CM rating system with a new unit-level assessment called the Commander’s Unit Assessment Tool (CUAT). SIGAR has not yet assessed the CUAT system; however, the principles and recommendations in this report remain relevant to whatever system is in place for evaluating the operational effectiveness of fielded ANSF units.

[Hubert Flottz]

3. But what about those two 48 inch pipelines?

Now that's real "democracy" at stake there...And what about all the dope farms that keep the economy going there? We can't just walk away from that "higher pie" BushCo stuck our fingers in. And what about all the newly discovered mineral deposits at stake there? And who will hold Hazmat Carbide's greasy hand, if we walk away now?