General’s Review Creates Rupture

US Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s report on Afghanistan has divided Republicans and Democrats as President Obama requests more time to ensure the US has the right strategy in the embattled nation. McChrystal concluded that the US’ effort in Afghanistan would likely fail without more troops. Such an assessment jibes with the growing sophistication of Taliban attacks and US troop casualties in the country. And one consequence appears to be that despite the Obama Administration’s commitment to the counterinsurgency strategy enunciated in March, there are now doubts about tactics; if preventing Al Qaeda from re-establishing itself in Afghanistan remains the goal, then lawmakers are divided on whether protecting the Afghan population and rebuilding the state or persuading the Taliban to stop fighting are the right steps. Meanwhile, comparisons to the Vietnam intervention – its faulty assumptions and inevitable failure – are back in media discourse. And there remains the question of what threat Al Qaeda in Pakistan presents regardless of whether they return to Afghanistan. – YaleGlobal