I feel comforted in believing that President Obama is making decisions in Central Asia based upon American corporate interests in developing pipelines to take natural gas and other resources from the region. I have little doubt that he wants to get us out of Afghanistan as soon as stability can be achieved. Still, we need to know what his endgame is.

The previous administration neglected the country in their quest for power and left behind a growing disaster; they allowed insurgents to reassemble and go on the offensive. It only makes the unnecessary war in Iran that much more of a debacle. Still, cleaning up their mess is what the big guy will have to do.

Advocates for just walking away believe that al Qaeda is either no longer a threat, no longer pals with the Taliban, or has other bases to move to any way. the reality is that they are still there or waiting next door. It does appear that al Qaeda is weakened, but that doesn't mean that they or fellow travelers no longer pose a threat. The suggestion that the Taliban leadership is on the outs with them seems to be misplaced wishful thinking because they are still seen fighting alongside of them.

These advocates also insist that Afghanistan is engaged in a 30 year civil war, so we have no business being involved; that view isolates Afghanistan from neighboring Pakistan which is an integral part of the problem. In addition, it would appear that we are trying to coordinate our efforts with those of Pakistan who we have been proding into action. If we now walk away, we leave them in a lurch. It is obvious that we need to squeeze al Qaeda between a rock and a hard place.

It also seems obvious that this is primarily a political rather than military problem. General McChrystal and others in the military seem to understand that too. We need to convince the Afghan people that we can only stay around long enough to help them get a functioning government together and that we have no interest in remaining in the country any longer than it will take to eliminate this threat to the international community. We need the Pashtun and others to understand that international terrorists hiding in their country pose a threat to Muslim and non-Muslim majority countries all over the globe, and we can't just walk away until we have some assurance that these vermin will no longer find safe haven in their country.

McChrystal seems to appreciate that people who are blowing up civilians will alienate the public and that it is our job to come in on their side. al Qaeda made that mistake in Iraq and the Taliban seems to be following the same wrong headed approach. The military also understands that they don't need our forces to be marching with heavy packs up and down that rugged terrain in sparsely populated areas. It is enough to let otherwise self-sufficient locals know that we can be there to help them if outsiders try to come in and escounce themselves in their midst using larger numbers than they can handle efficiently.

By military standards, that is a brilliant view. The number of American and NATO forces that it will take to accomplish that job is the issue. More importantly, the number of special trainers it will take to prepare the civilian population to protect itself it the problem we are trying to answer.

The decision facing our commander is how to thread that needle in such a way that a tightly knit community is secure enough for us to draw down in a timely manner. The longer that we stay there, the more we are bound to alienate the general public. I know our young men and women can charm the socks off of folks, but we don't want to leave our stinky socks in their villages any longer than is necessary. We seem to enjoy some measure of internal support, but we don't want to be the welcome guest that overstays his visit.

So, I want to see the end game. I want to see what the president's goal is, so we know what it will take to succeed and how long that will take. I know that somber young man in Dover will do his best to make the best decision, and I'm in no hurry to find out what it is.

God Speed,

David

David, you will be banned from this forum if you keep coming up with sensible posts such as this. I agree with every point you made.

Couldn't you've had just "If we don't fight them there will have to fight them here".....LOL...Good Post

It saddens me that so much support was wasted by the prior admin. So much could have been accomplished.

and then we have the current admin. who was in dire need of particular support and it was not there, (some Americans)

i continue to be hopeful and LOVE THE USA

it's a fact.

Helipilot:

it's a fact.

Helipilot, you know goddam well that if you don't engage the enemy you are less likely to get killed. The prior administration had the troops primarily in a holding position.

It's a fact that Hind Tit continues to run neck and neck with Worldly for the dumbest fuck on the Fray award.

he has stated he wants to destroy al qaeda and bring stability to afganistan then leave. so what don't you understand about the endgame.

First, I don't know how many of our forces and in what composition we will send there. Second, I don't understand how much emphasis would be put on developing an infrastructure that would be viable. Third, I don't know how much money he is contemplating spending on economic and infrastructure development. Fourth, I don't know how much of an outreach he wants to make to the Pashtun in the country. I don't know if he is interested in helping Afghan emigrants, especially those well educated, return home regardless of their political views. I don't know if he has discerned which factions are amenable to peace; factions that are willing to play be non-violent rules and participate in elections are essential to stability. Fifth, I don't know what he wants to do about poppy production or, at least, keeping opium out of our country. I also don't know how much he has discerned the level of corruption around poppy production and how far it has enveloped local and national government.

Most important, I don't know how long he contemplates keeping American forces there. I hope that he wants to set a goal of the beginning of a draw-down within 3-4 years. They have been fighting over there for decades in an ongoing power struggle; it appears that the factions have been morphing into new coalitions for much of that time. I am hoping that he recognizes that we do not want to get entangled in any factional fighting because it only draws us in deeper, and that is exactly what al Qaeda wants. By the way, that may be what separates the Taliban from al Qaeda: the former wants to rule the roost locally, and al Qaeda wants to drag us deeper in conflicts all over the globe in order to mobilize the Muslim world to form a new caliphate that would attempt to extend itself throughout the world. I'm probably forgetting some things, but I haven't had breakfast.

How do you see the situation over there?

God Speed,

David