Afghanistan: Some Links

Here are some links if you are looking for more info on Afghanistan and, like me, trying to figure out what the next step should be.

Here are two reports by Kenneth Katzman of the Congressional Research Service. Both are in pdf form and are not quick reads, but they have some very good background information on the people, politics, and history of Afghanistan.

• "Afghanistan: Post-War Governance,Security, and U.S. Policy" (July, 2008)
• "Afghanistan: Politics, Elections, and Government Performance" (August, 2009)

Steve Coll has a reasonable column in The New Yorker on the need for heavy lifting on the political side of the war.

• "War and Politics"

Elise Jordan in The Daily Beast on the messaging war.

• "Why Afghans Are Turning on America"

At Stratfor, George Friedman and Reva Bhalla analyze the McChrystal strategy and point out areas where it may fail.

• "The U.S. Challenge in Afghanistan"

I think McChrystal's strategy can succeed, but only with US civilian and political commitments just as deep as the military's. If the US cannot deliver the horsepower to improve the performance of the Afghan government at all levels, not to perfect, but to good enough for the people, it's not going to work. If President Obama and the international community do not make a real commitment that they will stay with it even when we experience setbacks and our own people grow weary, it's not going to work.

I have yet to see the State Department equivalent of McChrystal's assessment and overall strategy. That still makes me a little queasy about this whole thing. I know people want to see Obama commit to the McChrystal plan, but if the civilian side, both Afghan and US, cannot be accomplished we will be wasting the lives of hundreds if not thousands of US troops for nothing. Where is State's plan? If anyone has seen it, for heaven's sake, let me know.