Afghanistan could be Obama’s Vietnam
February 12, 2009 by SAF Desk
Filed under News at a glance
LONDON, Feb 11: Unless the insurgents’ advance is halted, Afghanistan will become President Barack Obama’s Vietnam, fears Col John Nagl, a consultant.
A Daily Telegraph report (War against Taliban ‘will be lost by autumn’ unless strategy changes) datelined Washington and published on Wednesday quoted Col Nagl, an Iraq veteran who helped devise the strategy, as saying that gains made by the Taliban needed to be reversed by the end of the fighting season, around late September or early October, or else the Taliban would establish a durable base that would make a sustained Western military presence futile.
“Counter-insurgency campaigns have momentum, like a football game when the crowd senses something before it happens. Right now the Taliban has that momentum,†said Col Nagl.
In his campaign Mr Obama committed to sending extra resources to Afghanistan and was bullish about the chances of success. But at a press conference this week, he played down expectations of ushering in a Western-style democracy and instead set a goal of preventing the country from becoming a haven for terrorists.
The president’s spokesman on Tuesday announced that he had asked Bruce Riedel, a former CIA agent and academic, to head an inter-agency review that would include civilian and military affairs in Afghanistan and the region, indicating that the so-called ‘surge’ might not be ordered by the president.
The leaking of Col Nagl’s assessment report to the media at this juncture is regarded by some diplomatic circles here as a desperate attempt by the supporters of the ‘surge’ idea in Pentagon to force President Obama’s hand.
The Telegraph report cleverly juxtaposed Col Nagl’s assessment with a statement by Adm Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in which he had said that he expected to announce the deployment of a further 30,000 US troops soon, even though President Obama’s administration was waiting to evaluate the reviews.
Afghans blame US more than Taliban for violence
February 11, 2009 by SAF Desk
Filed under News at a glance
WASHINGTON (AFP) — A nationwide survey of Afghans out Monday shows plummeting support for US and NATO/ISAF forces in Afghanistan, and a rise in the number who believe attacks on those troops are acceptable.
The poll of 1,500 people in Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, conducted by three Western broadcast networks — ABC News, the BBC and Germany’s ARD — also shows lower support for President Hamid Karzai and the Afghan central government.
Forty percent of Afghans surveyed say their country is heading in the right direction, down 77 percent from 2005, according to the poll.
Afghan opinion of the United States has nosedived: 47 percent had a favorable opinion, down from 83 percent in 2005. US favorability plunged 18 percent in 2008 alone, according to the survey.
“For the first time slightly more Afghans now see the United States unfavorably than favorably,” ABC News said.
The biggest complaint: civilian deaths resulting from US and NATO air strikes, which 77 percent say is unacceptable because the risk to civilians outweighs the strikes’ value in fighting insurgents.
Forty-one percent blame Western forces for poor targeting, while 28 percent blame the insurgents for hiding among civilians.
More worrisome, 25 percent say that attacks on US troops or soldiers with the ISAF — the NATO-led multinational force in Afghanistan — can be justified, up from 13 percent in 2006