Brian Katulis discusses the Obama administration's new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan and why we need to know when we get to mission accomplished.
Given the corruption and inefficiency of the central government in Afghanistan -- whose president foresees an almost endless U.S. presence, to prop up his administration -- the key strategy in that country is to stabilize localities, where the people's primary loyalties lie, as with the current tactic of supplying money for badly needed infrastructure in return for tribal elders' and councils' renunciation of Taliban control. The metric of success then becomes how many local areas are stable.
Given the corruption and inefficiency of the central government in Afghanistan -- whose president foresees an almost endless U.S. presence, to prop up his administration -- the key strategy in that country is to stabilize localities, where the people's primary loyalties lie, as with the current tactic of supplying money for badly needed infrastructure in return for tribal elders' and councils' renunciation of Taliban control. The metric of success then becomes how many local areas are stable.
dougdrenkow 2 years ago