“It’s nothing short of a call to overhaul the way the war is being fought. In a confidential report to the president on the Afghan war, General Stanley McChrystal says that if the coalition doesn’t beat the Taliban in the next 12 months, they never will.” (France 24)
In the coming weeks, U.S. President Barack Obama will have to make a decision on whether or not to follow McChystal’s recommendation. We’re following media perspectives on possible troop increases in Afghanistan from ABC News, CNN, CTV and Democracy Arsenal.
ABC News looks at the President’s tough choices from a political standpoint.
“The report underscores the greatest foreign policy challenge of the Obama presidency. The Commander in Chief isn’t sure sending more troops to Afghanistan is the answer, yet his hand picked general says the war will almost certainly be lost without them.”
But CNN is reporting from Kabul that the Afghan people are tired of war and would like the NATO countries to spend more on improving infrastructure in their country.
“When you talk to the Afghan people, the only thing surprising and shocking to them is that 8 years later we’re still discussing this. In his assessment, General Stanley McChrystal states that there needs to be better governance, there needs to be more troops on the ground. Not necessarily for warfare, but for security in a way of building infrastructure. Bringing in that civilian effort. And if you talk to the Afghan people here they’ll tell you that’s what they’ve been asking for for the past 8 years.”
And CTV News reports that the U.S. and other countries might be better off sending funding for security forces than troops.
“They’re wondering if more international troops are really the answer. They say it could only underscore or reinforce the notion to Afghans that their country is under foreign occupation. They’re saying that perhaps the better strategy might be to give the money to the Afghan security forces. Of course, the problem is training.”
But Michael Cohen from the blog Democracy Arsenal says General McChrystal seems to be changing the entire war strategy from defeating the Taliban to one similar to our strategy in Iraq.
“I understand the importance of stabilizing Afghanistan so that it won’t fall to the Taliban, but according to McChrystal that is not enough – the Afghan government must also maintain the capacity to counter transnational terrorists.”
What do you think? Should President Obama take the advice of General McChrystal or adapt the military strategy to help build infrastructure and support security forces already in Afghanistan?
Copy the code and paste it to your blog or website:
