McChrystal: ‘We Have the Right Strategy and the Right Resources’

And here’s Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of the Afghanistan war, testifying for the first time since his June congressional hearings. He praised “an old friend,” Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, to signal that whatever tensions they’ve had over the strategy are behind them. “A stable Afghanistan [and] a defunct al-Qaeda” are the goals of the mission, he said, and he stressed “humility,” as “Afghans have been [at war] for more than 30″ years. Reiterating a theme of his August assessment, McChrystal puts the complexity of the strategic challenges in Afghanistan in terms of expectations amongst the Afghan people.

“I participated fully in the president’s assessment,” McChrystal said. “I believe the decisions that came from that process reflect a realistic and effective” path forward. “The president’s decision rapidly resources our strategy … I fully support the president’s decision.” Rolling back the Taliban is a step “to the ultimate defeat of al-Qaeda … We can and will accomplish this mission.”

Why? The Afghans, he said, are steadfast. “The Taliban have no widespread constituency.” So far, counterinsurgency is working, and “Afghans do not regard us as occupiers … they see our support as a necessary bridge for stability and security.” By this time next year, there should be enough indications of the strategy’s results that “it will be clear to us that the insurgency has lost the momentum,” and by 2011 “it will be clear that the insurgency will not win.” Surprisingly certain. “We will remained partnered with the Afghan security forces in a supporting role,” McChrystal said, not that we will withdraw in that time frame, consistent with everything the administration has said since Tuesday.

“The additional forces announced by President Obama are significant,” McChrystal said, particularly for training Afghans and for population security. Those new troops’ capability “translates into credibility in the minds of Afghans,” proving that “we not only want to protect them, but that we can.” He reiterates his June statement that Afghan sentiments about who will win “can be decisive.” He has little to say about Pakistan — it is, in fairness out of his wheelhouse — but expresses notes of confidence in Pakistani resolve against al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban across the Afghan borders.

Looking ahead, McChrystal said, “I’m confident we have the right strategy and the right resources.” But “we owe ourselves, our leaders and the American people transparency and candor” in making assessments in the war’s progress.” This is not a force “of rookies or dilettantes,” McChrystal said in an eloquent statement about the troops under his command. “All have lost comrades. None have lost heart.”