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Title: U.S. Commander Offers Grim View of Afghanistan
Source:
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URL Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/200 ... -offers-grim-view-afghanistan/
Published: Feb 19, 2009
Author: FoxNews
Post Date: 2009-02-19 10:07:00 by christine
Keywords: None
Views: 102
Comments: 6
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan offered a grim view Wednesday of military efforts in southern Afghanistan, warning that 17,000 new troops will take on emboldened Taliban insurgents who have "stalemated" U.S. and allied forces. Army Gen. David McKiernan also predicted that the bolstered numbers of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan -- about 55,000 in all -- will remain near those levels for up to five years. Still, McKiernan said, that is only about two-thirds of the number of troops he has requested to secure the war-torn nation. McKiernan told reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday that the extra Army and Marine forces will be in place by the summer, primed for counterinsurgency operations against the Taliban but also ready to conduct training with Afghan police forces. McKiernan said what the surge "allows us to do is change the dynamics of the security situation, predominantly in southern Afghanistan, where we are, at best, stalemated. "I'm not here to tell you that there's not an increased level of violence, because there is," he said. The 17,000 additional troops, which President Obama approved Tuesday to begin deploying this spring, will join an estimated 38,000 already in Afghanistan. Another 10,000 U.S. soldiers could be headed to Afghanistan in the future as the Obama administration decides how to balance its troop levels with those from other nations and the Afghan army. The White House has said it will not make further decisions about its next moves in Afghanistan until it has completed a strategic review of the war, in tandem with the Afghan government. Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, said Wednesday that the foreign ministers of those countries will travel to Washington next week to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other officials as the U.S. formulates a policy review. Appearing on "The NewsHour" on PBS, Holbrooke was asked how the Obama administration sees victory in Afghanistan. "First of all, the victory, as defined in purely military terms, is not achievable, and I cannot stress that too highly," he said. "What we're looking for is the definition of our vital national security interests." Holbrooke described his recent trip to the region and the delegations coming to Washington as "a manifestation of a new, intense, engaged diplomacy designed to put Afghanistan and Pakistan into a larger regional context and move forward to engage other countries in the effort to stabilize this incredibly volatile region." Whatever the outcome of the review, McKiernan said, "we know we need additional means in Afghanistan, whether they are security or governance-related or socioeconomic-related." The estimated level of 55,000 troops needs "to be sustained for some period of time," he said, adding that could be as long as three to five years. Some of the 17,000 U.S. troops soon headed overseas will be training Afghanistan police while battling insurgents as the nation's August elections approach. They include an Army combat brigade from Washington state and a Marine expeditionary brigade made up of troops from Camp Lejune in North Carolina and Camp Pendleton in southern California. McKiernan said they would be sufficient for what he believes needs to be done through summer, when the fighting tends to be heaviest. With the added ground troops, McKiernan said it's possible the military will scale back airstrikes that have been blamed for civilian casualties and angered the Afghan population. The Taliban insurgents, some of whom have worked in concert with al-Qaida and other terrorist groups, have increasingly focused on what McKiernan described as small-scale attacks on government targets, police and official convoys. Last week militants launched a bold strike on government buildings in downtown Kabul. McKiernan said the number of insurgents has not grown, but they are "very resilient" and "they have continuously adapted their tactics." "We're not going to run out of people that either international forces or Afghan forces have to kill or capture," McKiernan said. Ultimately, the conflict will be solved not by military force -- but through the political will of the Afghan people, the general said. "The insurgency is not going to win in Afghanistan," McKiernan insisted. "The vast majority of the people that live in Afghanistan reject the Taliban or other militant insurgent groups. They have nothing to offer them. They do not bring any hope for a better future." Robert H. Scales, a retired Army two-star general who visited southern Afghanistan last October as a military adviser, said in a telephone interview Wednesday that he agrees there is essentially a stalemate in that area, which is a traditional stronghold for the Taliban movement. But he said that does not mean U.S. and allies forces are losing. "It's reached the point where neither side has gained an advantage," Scales said. 
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#1. To: Christine (#0)
Stalemated, at best? Well, what if reality is the worst which the use of "at best" implies. We are stalemated, at best, and absolutely crushed and defeated, at worst. Will the "surge" [God, there is that word again] merely get US up to at best which is being in a state of stalemate? Or, shall we increase the troops and carpet bombing until the Afghan populace suffers millions of casualties and half of every building in Afgahistan is reduced to rubble. This is insanity, pure and simple. Obama is just another Zionist war criminal.
TRAITORS TO AMERICA AND BRAINWASHED IDIOTS SUPPORT AND DEFEND ISRAEL. TO HELL WITH ZIONISTS AND THIER AMERICAN FRONTS: AIPAC/PNAC/ADL/NAACP/FEDERAL RESERVE/SPLC/JINSA/ACLU/CHRISTIAN ZIONISTS/AEI/FEDERAL MEDIA/HOLLYWOOD, et. al.
Yes it does mean "we" are losing. They dont have to beat us. We have to beat them. They can bleed "us" dry in a "stalemate". This man is a liar. He's spinning it for the sheeples benefit.
Click for Privacy and Preparedness files
Unbelievable. We cannot 'win,' but we need to be there to guard the poppies from the tali's. Beam me up.
Apparently you didn't get the memo about common sense, paying attention and telling the truth being outlawed.
Question: Why was the timeline of 5-years used? Answer: O is looking toward the next selection. Using the Bush Doctrine which worked for Dubya on '04, O is going to tell the voters something like, "lets not let those brave men and women who have died for freedom be forgotten. In my next term, I will end the war honorably and bring the troops home" And the sheeple will clap like trained seals....
I am certain we have air superiority. We gave them stinger missiles to fight the Russians and soon after the Russians left. I am waiting for Russia to return the favor.
McKiernan said what the surge "allows us to do is change the dynamics of the security situation, predominantly in southern Afghanistan, where we are, at best, stalemated.
#2. To: Christine (#0)
Robert H. Scales, a retired Army two-star general who visited southern Afghanistan last October as a military adviser, said in a telephone interview Wednesday that he agrees there is essentially a stalemate in that area, which is a traditional stronghold for the Taliban movement. But he said that does not mean U.S. and allies forces are losing.
#3. To: Christine (#0)
"First of all, the victory, as defined in purely military terms, is not achievable, and I cannot stress that too highly," he said. "What we're looking for is the definition of our vital national security interests."
#4. To: wbales (#1)
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#5. To: Christine, all (#0)
about 55,000 in all -- will remain near those levels for up to five years.
#6. To: Christine (#0)
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