Another aspect of the Obama administration’s Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy that went unacknowledged over the past three days’ worth of congressional hearings is the role of unmanned missile-equipped drones used ostensibly on militants in Pakistan. Those drones, a highly sensitive intelligence program, never had any hope of being discussed in open More…
Three days and four hearings on the ground views of Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy have just ended. And there are still a number of questions that have gone answered. Here are a few.
Does the United States have to remain in Afghanistan until Osama bin Laden is captured? And will the war be incomplete until that happens? Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) wanted to know.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal neglects the first question and answers the second. “I believe al-Qaeda can be defeated overall,” McChrystal More…
Finally someone asked about the leaks of Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s strategy review and Ambassador Karl Eikenberry’s cables appearing to oppose the troop surge! That questioner is Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-Va.).
Eikenberry: “The review the president led was an extraordinary review,” with everyone encouraged to be candid. “The leaks that occurred More…
Rep. Ron Klein (D-Fla.) engaged Gen. McChrystal in a good colloquy about the necessity of eliminating safe havens for al-Qaeda in Pakistan, one of the strongest arguments of war critics. What’s to stop the terrorists from just going to places like Yemen or Somalia?
McChrystal, who headed the hunt for More…
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) asked about the progress of the civilian surge in Afghanistan, and Ambassador Eikenberry beamed as he answered the question. “We’ve made very significant progress over the last 12 months,” Eikenberry said. “By January of next year, during about a 7-week time frame … we will have More…
Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) asked a great question: Sure, it would be better for Afghan farmers to grow wheat instead of poppies, a crop that heavily funds the insurgency. But how much can Afghan farmers really make?
Ambassador Karl Eikenberry did not provide a clear answer. “It changes from year More…
Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) asked if U.S. troops “will be able to enter Pakistan,” the first headache of the morning for Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
“My authorities stop at the border,” McChrystal replied. He began to say that he works closely with the Pakistani army chief on a “strategic partnership,” but More…
During today’s House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Afghanistan, Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) asked if an increase to 400,000 Afghan soldiers and police — that figure stands at a little under 200,000 total now — will be enough.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal replied that a “detailed analysis” using “basic COIN doctrine” More…
For their last appearance in the three-day gauntlet of congressional hearings, Gen. Stanley McChrystal and Ambassador Karl Eikenberry reunited today before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), the committee’s chairman, said that U.S. efforts in Afghanistan “cannot stop at the Durand Line,” the border with Pakistan, More…
rss