Reasons to be hopeful about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan
Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned on Sunday about a national rush to judgment that the Afghanistan war is somehow failing and that the overall narrative about the war has become too negative. That was practically an era ago regarding Afghanistan, but Gates is still right. With the drama over Wednesday's change of command receding, it is time to refocus on policy.
Several recent critiques paint only part of the picture, and they are often more wrong than right unless they are presented with greater nuance. Consider:
-- The "Kandahar offensive" is delayed. This complaint is strange: The U.S. troop buildup remains slightly ahead of schedule (95,000 soldiers are in Afghanistan, an increase of nearly 30,000 this year), and a major offensive in the classic sense was never promised in Kandahar.… Seguir leyendo »