In case I left the impression in my previous post that the elevation of British diplomat Mark Sedwill to a new senior NATO civilian envoy to Afghanistan was a demotion for U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, let me correct it straight away. In Eikenberry’s dour November cables warning about the More…
As Adm. James Stavridis, NATO’s military commander, first confirmed to TWI two weeks ago, the transatlantic alliance will announce a new top representative in Afghanistan to corral political, diplomatic and developmental aid alongside Gen. Stanley McChrystal. The announcement, set for Thursday’s London conference on Afghanistan, will elevate Britain’s More…
After last month’s marathon Afghanistan-Pakistan Congressional hearings with Gen. Stanley McChrystal and Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, I noted an unanswered question:
What will stop the Community Defense Initiative from yielding militias and warlords? McChrystal professed, a lot, to awareness of the hazards of partnering with
Adm. James Stavridis made it sound like a fait accompli this morning when he told a blogger conference call that NATO will soon announce a new senior official for coordinating allied civilian contributions to Afghanistan. The new position will be filled by a civilian. Perhaps that shouldn’t be a More…
On a blogger conference call, Adm. James Stavridis, the military commander of NATO, said he was a “100 percent supporter” of a much-debated proposal for the alliance to empower a senior civilian to coordinate diplomatic, political, development and other civilian support to work with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the military commander 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.
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…
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…
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