Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Pentagon Doubts Grow on McChrystal War Plan



by Gareth Porter, May 11, 2010

"Although Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal’s plan for wresting the Afghan provinces of Helmand and Kandahar from the Taliban is still in its early stages of implementation, there are already signs that setbacks and obstacles it has encountered have raised serious doubts among top military officials in Washington about whether the plan is going to work.....

McChrystal’s staff has made no secret of their hope to convince the U.S. public that his strategy is making such progress in Helmand and Kandahar that it should be extended past mid-2011, when President Obama has said he would begin a U.S. military withdrawal and transition to Afghan responsibility for security.

After interviewing members of McChrystal’s team in Kabul, pro-war journalist Robert Kaplan wrote in the April issue of The Atlantic magazine, “The very prospect of some success by July 2011 increases the likelihood that U.S. forces will be in Afghanistan in substantial numbers for years.”"

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