McKiernan on AfghanistanMcKiernan on Afghanistan | The Washington Independent
Jul 31, 202032.6K Shares1.2M Views
Gen. David McKiernan, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, spoke to the Pentagon press corps yesterdayand gave some indications of the state of his thinking on the war. Let’s do this listicle style.
1.** The 17,000 new troops are going to southern Afghanistan**. Remember that this complement of new troops is in response to a request that McKiernan made to Central Command and the Pentagon last year. So he’s been thinking for a while about what to do with his reinforcements. The south is a big opium beltand basically a Taliban stronghold, where, McKiernan said, “
** 7. Reconciliation with Taliban fighters sure would be nice. **McKiernan really didn’t want to be dragged into the should-we-talk-with-the-Taliban debate. Here’s what he said about what Petraeus just calls ‘reconciliation‘:
8. We will be fighting in Afghanistan for years. Here’s where the Obama strategy review really does need to offer a vision of what the endgame looks like in Afghanistan. McKiernan envisions a long fight. “
Paula M. Graham
Reviewer
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