Monday, September 21, 2009

McChrystal: the echo of the Mc's on AFG

In an expected good sign from the new commander of NATO and US forces in AFG, General McChrystal put out a statement that is almost, to the word, in full alignment with he predecessors McKiernan and McNeill.
The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan warns in an urgent, confidential assessment of the war that he needs more forces within the next year and bluntly states that without them, the eight-year conflict "will likely result in failure,"
...
"Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near-term (next 12 months) -- while Afghan security capacity matures -- risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible."
...
McChrystal is equally critical of the command he has led since June 15. The key weakness of ISAF, he says, is that it is not aggressively defending the Afghan population. "Pre-occupied with protection of our own forces, we have operated in a manner that distances us -- physically and psychologically -- from the people we seek to protect. . . . The insurgents cannot defeat us militarily; but we can defeat ourselves."
Read it all. Once again - we have a plan in place that, tweaked when needed, will give us success. All you need it patience and will.

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