The Pentagon Spins Marjah Posted by Michael Cohen

Earlier this week I noted the recent testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee of Frank Ruggerio, civilian director for the US effort in southern American. At the same hearing there was testimony from  Marine Brigadier General John Nicholson and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for AF/Pak/Central Asia David Sedney on the situation in Afghanistan - and what can best be described as an interesting discrepancy emerged.

We’ve seen other positive indicators in the last year, as well.  Of the 121 key terrain districts identified by ISAF in December 2009, 60 were assessed as sympathetic or neutral to the Afghan Government.  By March, 2010, that number had climbed to 73 districts.

Yet here is what the Pentagon's recent report on Progress Toward Security and Stability In Afghanistan, released on April 30th said (pg. 35):

The overall assessment indicates that the population sympathizes with or supports the Afghan Government in 24% (29 of 121) of all Key Terrain and Area of Interest districts. 

What is one to make of this? Well as it turns out, the Pentagon report chose to highlight the very small number of districts that are defined by a "secure environment" or "occasional security threats" and "emerging" or "full governance authority." There are a mere 29 of those among the 121 that the Pentagon considers essential to the war effort. Since support of the populace for the government is essential to the COIN mission in Afghanistan this is a pretty damning number.

Nicholson and Sedney took a different approach. They have added into the mix those "neutral" districts where growth is minimal, threats are frequent and governance appears to be, at best, sparse to suggest that confidence in the Kabul government is improving. But just out of curiosity, how is a neutral district considered a win for the government?

But more important, is there a reason that the Pentagon report focused on the overall lack of popular support for the Afghan government while Nicholson and Sedney in public testimony for Congress cherry-picked the numbers to make support for the Afghan government look stronger than it may actually be?

If I was on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee I think I might demand an answer to that one.

Just to be clear, the problem in this testimony are not restricted to the discrepancy above. Check this out:

Despite the serious issues that remain to be addressed, a national survey completed in March 2010 indicates that 59% of Afghans believe their government is headed in the right direction, an increase of 0.5% over December 2009 and 8% over September 2009.   

An increase of 0.5% - are you f***ing kidding me? This is supposed to be a positive metric for success - that's a rounding error. And frankly an 8% increase from September 2009 to March 2010 isn't much to write home about it either. That means that even after a presidential inauguration of Hamid Karzai combined with the decision of the United States to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan . . . it only moved the dial 8%. And we're bragging about this?

Finally, here's one last piece of disinformation:

Due to our change in approach, the percentage of Afghan civilian casualties caused by Coalition actions has dropped substantially.

Yes, but what Nicholson and Sedney don't mention is that the number of Afghan civilian casualties in general has jumped by nearly 50% since the beginning of the year. It seems like that might be relevant to this discussion.

Comments

[r4i sdhc]

Very nice article, today in every country peace is very important. And this type of article is very useful. Very well explained through the medium of chart. This is a place where I always get very useful information which make me to think.

[wholesale jordan shoes]

It was a big week for LeBron James; he grabbed himself a second MVP trophy and the Cavs moved on to the next round of the Playoffs. We saw a bunch of LeBrons, like the MVP Air Max LeBron VII, an unreleased LeBron VII P.S., and another sneak peek at his eighth shoe. LeBron’s upcoming shoe wasn’t the only preview we got, as a sample of the Jordan Melo M7 made its way to the public. Speaking of being in public, even more notable celebrities like Justin Timberlake, Mick Jagger, C.C. Sabathia, and Nelly came out with some heat of their own, while the Sneaker Friends 2010 Event in the ATL really burned a hole in our eyes. We also received a ton of glimpses at upcoming releases, from more Air Attacks, 90’s Retros, and classic silhouettes for Fall 2010. We were also hit with a big-picture news story, as Nike took personal action against counterfeit sellers and later announced the plans for the company’s future during their 2015 Global ,welcome to http://www.wikishoes.com

[monday]

M4V to WMV Converter is a three-in-one software which can be used as a video converter, audio converter, and DRM Remover. To pay for one software, you will get three functional tools.m4v to wmv converter
dv converter.blu ray to mkv.

[movado watches]

Both national security experts and military leaders support your commitment to this issue and your policy of engagement Mr. President. Now is the time to define and resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a matter of American national security.

[paw]

I liked your article, it's a great help,hope you like what.
http://lotusugg.blog.com/

[anbohan]

As the old saying goes, each has his favorite taste about dressing and wearing. I like and links of London rings links of london since I was a little boy. When I was a junior high school student, my classmate wore a watch and was links of london jewellery bought from links of london UK.Which made me, not only me also the whole of my class, admire very much. After school, I went to the links of london jewellery store by my bike. What a big surprise, so many styles offer me to choose. Several days later, when my links of london charms parents are in good mood, I beg them for a watch. They can not endure me any more and finally give in.

[SesLi-SoHbET]

Both national security experts and military leaders support your commitment to this issue and your policy of engagement Mr. President. Now is the time to define and resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a matter of American national security...!

[sesli sohbet]

And this type of article is very useful. Very well explained through the medium of chart. This is a place where I always get very useful information which make me to think,,,
seslichat

[TıkLa-SohbeT]

seslisohbet siteleri arasında ekol bir adres sestonum hemen sohbette başlamak icin sestonum 'tıklayınız..! seslisohbet ve seslichat adreslerinin gözdesi hemen tıklayarak seslisohbet yapmaya başlaya bilirsiniz..!

sestonum
seslichat
seslisohbet

[QodesQoM]

Türkiyenin ilk Hiphop Sitesi Hiphop, Gekko G Fan Sitesi Gekko G, Mask animasyon

[collections dvd]

This article explains how to construct a relatively complex THE FUGITIVE
application, a photo album, with THE FUGITIVE DVD
. We also illustrate the various features that THE FUGITIVE DVD COLLECTION
.

[küçük sırlar son bölüm izle]

Merhaba serdar ortaç dinle çok iyidir bunun dışında volkan konak dinle de yine öyle birde ne vardı heh mustafa ceceli dinle ve bitirirken ismail yk şarkıları kesin dinleyin.ve unutmadan küçük sırlar son bölüm izle dizisi süper.metro turizm bilet fiyatları ve 10.sınıf coğrafya kitabı cevapları iyidir.

[FFXIV Gil]

The New York Times reports today that a group of students calling themselves FFXIV Gil
University, is actively engaged in a protest against shoddy teaching stan
Final Fantasy XIV Gil
The dean's office has distributed a brochure entitled
Buy FFXIV Gil
saying: "The quality of the education has become so low that it has become terrible. For the last two years
Cheap FFXIV Gil
imagine how students are living at more mediocre schools? It really gives the lie to the idea that Russia
Buy Final Fantasy XIV Gil
growth due to energy prices. And can you imagine Russia's reaction if an Harvard professor were found
FFXIV Gil

The contact information is given for the students at the link for their manifesto
Final Fantasy XIV Gil
grass-roots demcratic campaign. Efforts like this are so dangerous in Russia
AIKA Gold
Here is an amusing YouTube purportedly made by an MGU student about the school's many unique features:

Buy aika gold
clearly been successful in getting their story into the national press, and
Cheap aika gold
"Protocols of the Elders of Zion" as a reliable source.

[Best Replica Watches]

Good blog, where it taught me a lot! Thank you! The hope of improving the content!

[dada]

I liked your article, it's a great help,hope you like what.

[ugg boots clearance]

Who doesn’t want to ugg boots clearance have a good future? It’s something everyone desires. But, for that, you must first accept that your future is your responsibility. The one who determines whether or not you have a good future is you ugg boots outlet. Don’t expect the circumstances or someone else to take care of it for you. It’s you who must take action ugg boots clearance.

With that understood, what should we do to have a good future ugg boots clearance?

I believe that one important thing you should do is investing in your future. Investing in your future means making some sacrifices in the present to reap rewards later ugg boots clearance. It means investing your time and money in something that might not give you immediate return, but which could give you tremendous value later. It also means preparing for the uncertainties of the future ugg boots clearance.

Sadly, many people don’t do it ugg boots clearance. They only think about the present. Therefore, when something unexpected happens, they aren’t ready and get into a difficult situation. For example, many people just do the same job with the same skills all the time. They don’t improve themselves and prepare for future changes. They neither learn new skills nor expand their knowledge. Then, when the situation changes, their skills are no longer relevant and they lose their job ugg boots outlet.

[ugg boots clearance]

Wili had learned enough now to see that these were not nearly as simple as making local calls. Communication between towns along the coast was trivial over the fiber, where almost any bandwidth could be accommodated. For longer distances, such as from Naismith's palace to the coast, it was still relatively easy to have video communication: The coherent radiators on the roof could put out microwave and infrared beams in any direction. On a clear day, when the IR radiator could be used, it was almost as good as a fiber (even with all the tricks Naismith used to disguise their location). But for talking around the curve of the Earth, across forests and rivers where no fiber had been strung and no line of sight existed, it was a different story: Naismith used what he called "short-waves" (which were really in the one- to ten meter range). These were quite unsuitable ugg boots clearance for high-fidelity communication. To transmit video-even the wavery blackand-white flat pictures Naismith used in his transcontinental calls - took incredibly clever coding schemes and some realtime adaptation to changing conditions in the upper atmosphere.
The people at the other end brought Naismith problems, and he came back with answers. Not immediately, of course; it often took him weeks, but he eventually thought of something. At least the people at the other end seemed happy. Though it was still unclear to Wili how gratitude on the other side of the continent could help Naismith, he was beginning to understand what had paid for the palace and how Naismith could afford full-scale holo projectors. It was one of these ugg boots clearance problems that Naismith turned over to his apprentice. If he succeeded, they might actually be able to steal pictures off the Authority's snooper satellites.

[white iphone 4]

Hi, where did you get this information can you please support this with some proof or you may say some good reference as I and others will really appreciate. This information is really good and I will say will always be helpful if we try it risk free. So if you can back it up. That will really help us all. And this might bring some good repute to you.

[white iphone 4]

Hey c'est un grand poste. Je vais envoyer à mes copains. Je suis tombé sur ce tout googler pour certaines paroles, je vais être s?r de revenir. merci pour le partage.

[iphone covers]

Salut, où avez-vous obtenu cette information peut vous s'il vous pla?t appuyer ce avec une certaine preuve ou vous pouvez dire quelques bonnes références que moi et d'autres apprécieront vraiment. Cette information est vraiment bon et je vais dire sera toujours utile si nous essayer sans risques. Donc, si vous pouvez le sauvegarder. Cela nous aidera vraiment à tous. Et cela pourrait apporter un peu de bonne réputation pour vous.

[emotions]

It was a big week for LeBron James
แทงบอล
sbobet
ibcbet
แทงบอล
แทงบอลออนไลน์
sbobet
sbo

[foopa]

This is useable information, clearly presented to inform and educate the reader. As simple as that may seem, articles such as this are more the exception. เช่าคอนโด คอนโด ขายคอนโด ซื้อคอนโด

[ชั้นวางสินค้า]

Thank for sharing, your article is interesting.

สายพานลำเลียง|คลังสินค้า|racking|คอนเวเยอร์

[emotions]

Salut, où avez-vous obtenu cette information peut vous s'il vous pla?t appuyer ce avec une certaine preuve ou vous pouvez dire quelques bonnes références que moi et d'autres apprécieront vraiment. Cette information est vraiment bon et je vais dire sera
แทงบอล
sbobet
ibcbet
แทงบอล
แทงบอลออนไลน์
sbobet

[moony]

Attempting to get pleasure from a whore is like trying to get happiness from porn. ปลวก กำจัดปลวก ปลวกขึ้นบ้าน

[Penis Enlargement]

These kind of post are always inspiring and I prefer to read quality content so I happy to find many good point here in the post, writing is simply great, thank you for the post

[knockoff handbags]

hahaha,,,it is a good article.

[deedee]

Γεια σου, όπου βρήκες αυτές τις πληροφορίες μπορούν να σας παρακαλούμε να υποστηρίξει αυτό με κάποια απόδειξη ή μπορείτε να πείτε μερικά καλά αναφοράς, όπως εγώ και άλλοι θα είναι πραγματικά εκτιμώ. Οι πληροφορίες αυτές είναι πραγματικά καλή και θα πω θα είναι πάντα χρήσιμο αν προσπαθήσουμε να ενέχει κινδύνους. Έτσι εάν μπορείτε να το υποστηρίξετε. Αυτό θα βοηθήσει πραγματικά όλους μας. Και αυτό θα μπορούσε να φέρει κάποια καλή φήμη για εσάς.
กระดาษ
แหวนเพชร
เศรษฐกิจพอเพียง
ผ้าม่าน
มู่ลี่

[พัดพลาสติก]

Thank you for Sharing good content.

ทัวร์เกาหลี|ทัวร์ฮ่องกง|ทัวร์ยุโรป|เครื่องเชื่อม

[Oakley Sunglasses]

I really liked your article and I shared with my friends in my facebook account ..

[SBOBET]

This is the most smashing trick I’ve come across ever! Thanks a lot for sharing.
SBOBET