Gates Doubts U.S.'s Afghan Strategy

[laststeamtrain]

Source: WSJ

OCTOBER 1, 2009
Gates Doubts U.S.'s Afghan Strategy
As Obama Reviews Options, Defense Secretary Worries Manpower-Intensive Plan Won't Stop Taliban

By YOCHI J. DREAZEN

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama met with senior counselors for three hours Wednesday to launch his review of Afghan war strategy, amid indications that his defense secretary -- the key link between the White House and the military -- is among those undecided about the right approach.

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A shift in Mr. Gates's thinking would be particularly striking because he has long been a major advocate of counterinsurgency, which is credited with helping to sharply reduce Iraq's once-unrelenting violence.

When Mr. Gates first announced that he was sending Gen. McChrystal to Kabul in May, he specifically cited the commander's "unique skill set in counterinsurgency" as a main reason for the selection.

At the same time, Mr. Gates has long been skeptical of sending large amounts of additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, warning that an expanded Western military footprint could galvanize new armed opposition to the U.S. and its allies and draw U.S. forces into a conflict akin to the guerrilla war against the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125435650569454583.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[tabatha]

1. Obama was very smart to keep Gates.

It allows him greater options without being bludgeoned.

[thunder rising]

2. Afghanistan (noun): the place empires go to die.

[xchrom]

3. we shall see -- remember this was The War of Necessity --

'At the same time, Mr. Gates has long been skeptical of sending large amounts of additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, warning that an expanded Western military footprint could galvanize new armed opposition to the U.S. and its allies and draw U.S. forces into a conflict akin to the guerrilla war against the Soviet Union in the 1980s.'