Being Realistic About Afghanistan Posted by Michael Cohen

So I'm not completely crazy about the title of this piece, but I have a new article up at ForeignPolicy's Af/Pak channel on the growing mismatch between our intentions and our capabilities in Afghanistan.

For example, my buddy John Nagl says we need to build up the Afghan security services so they can take responsibility for the counter-insurgency fight in Afghanistan. Agreed. The problem is what happens between now and then; and why are trying to fight a counter-insurgency in Afghanistan if we don't have the resources in place to be successful?

The sooner policymakers wake up to this sobering reality and stop trying to fit the square peg of counterinsurgency into the round hole of Afghanistan, the sooner U.S. military leaders can come up with an operational approach that is grounded in political and military reality. The key here is to move away from a population centric counter-insurgency fight, particularly in southern Afghanistan, to a more focused and politically realistic operation oriented around counter terrorism. Sean Kay's argument on these pages about re-focusing the fight in Afghanistan from counterinsurgency to a policy of containment is a good place to start this discussion. But it necessitates the recognition by policymakers of what is actually achievable in Afghanistan. Trying to fight a robust counter-insurgency without the proper resources to actually succeed is to quote a phrase the surest way "to lose in Afghanistan."

Read the whole thing here

Comments

[Dan Kervick]

The problem is what happens between now and then; and why are trying to fight a counter-insurgency in Afghanistan if we don't have the resources in place to be successful?

Well, isn't that why the military is planning to ask for more troops?

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Every national commission’s analysis should start from the point that Afghanistan is in a state of war, but that success can be achieved through finding a political strategy that combines both security concerns and development needs...