Search results: ‘metrics afghanistan’

According to a new United Nations report, 2009 was the deadliest year for Afghan civilians since the U.S. invaded in 2001. The international body tallied 2,412 civilian deaths, a spike from 2,118 killed in 2008. But insurgents were responsible for the vast majority. The population-protection measures taken by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who took command in [...]

“My own personal view is we ought to increase the aid to Pakistan,” Holbrooke said, including to the Pakistani military.

Update, 8:50 a.m.: I am retracting this post, published yesterday, titled “Inside This Morning’s White House Afghanistan Meeting: Anger With Eikenberry, ‘Beef’ With McChrystal.”
My original source for the post stands by the account provided. The individual, a National Security Council staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity, has provided truthful and verified information on past [...]

Andrew Exum, the Center for a New American Security scholar and adviser to Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s strategy review, has a new policy paper out on Afghanistan. No one at the Defense Department will pay any attention to it, just like no one paid any attention to the last one he wrote. But why not see [...]

Yes, Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s strategy review says that the Afghanistan war needs to be properly resourced. But there are so, so, so many elements within it that place that statement within a subordinate context. For instance: “Additional resources are required, but focusing on force or resource requirements misses the point entirely.” And: “Resourcing communicates commitment, [...]

At today’s just-begun Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Afghanistan, Sen. John Kerry, (D-Mass.), the committee chairman, subtly implored the Obama administration to sharpen its thinking about the war. “No amount of money, no rise in troop levels, nor any clever metrics will matter if the mission is ill-defined or ill-conceived.”

There are two ways to read this quote that Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) gave to Josh Rogin:
The troop numbers are only one piece of a much larger set of policy adjustments, Levin said, including more trainers, more equipment, and more support for Afghan forces.
“The media has been focusing on [troop numbers] like it’s the public [...]

Big scoop from Josh Rogin at Foreign Policy: right in time for that closed door briefing to the Senate on the metrics for judging progress in Afghanistan and Pakistan, here the metrics are. I can’t help but notice in light of this post that it begins with a restatement of the anti-al-Qaeda goal that the [...]

At noon today. Laura Rozen reports:
Scheduled to brief members: Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy; Holbrooke deputy Paul Jones; the ODNI’s Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis and South Asia expert Dr. Peter Lavoy; NSC holdover “war czar” Ltn. Gen. Douglas Lute; and Joint Chiefs of Staff  Director for Strategic Plans and Policy [...]

An anonymous military official was recently quoted as calling Helmand Province, site of a massive Marine operation, a “sideshow.” Someone forgot to tell Gen. Stanley McChrystal and Amb. Karl Eikenberry. Here’s how their joint civilian-military campaign plan describes the area:
In the coming year our greatest effort will be focused in southern Afghanistan where deployment of [...]