Biden Gets on Board With Afghanistan Strategy « The Washington Independent
Jul 31, 20202.7K Shares226K Views
Not that he wasn’t before. But during the White House debate over Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy this fall, Vice President Joe Biden argued for a “Pakistan-first” approach that tamped down U.S. troop increases in Afghanistan in favor of counterterrorism strikes in both countries and civilian aid to Pakistan. Since the military leaders who would have to implement that approachcontended that a more robust population-centric effort in Afghanistan was necessary to deny the al-Qaeda “syndicate” strategic depth in Afghanistan, Biden’s proposals didn’t exactly carry the day. But no hard feelings.
On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” today, Biden signaled that he’s on board with what President Obama ultimately decided. From The Associated Press:
“„Asked why the U.S. is making a much heavier commitment to Afghanistan than Pakistan, Biden said that both nations are strategically vital. He also said “we would be in real trouble if a vacuum is created and there is chaos and the government in Afghanistan fails.” He said it would be difficult to guess what the response would be from Russia, China and Iraq, among others, in the region.
“„“So this surge is in the service of stabilizing Afghanistan,” Biden said, “to allow us to do the job with al-Qaida in Pakistan.”
Good soldiering or not, now we have the leading pole of internal dissent over counterinsurgency in Afghanistan proving he’s a Reconcilable.
Hajra Shannon
Reviewer
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