This Sunday Afghan President Hamid Karzai offered safe passage for Taliban leaders who wanted to talk peace.
At first blush that sounds good -- and the Taliban's immediate rejection of the offer might be seen as more spin than a real response.
But that first glance would be superficial.
Karzai offered to talk because the situation on Afghanistan is rapidly getting worse. The Taliban is now operating in Kabul directly. If anything, Karzai might want an offer of safe passage.
Last night CBC had a story (and yes, CBC is not always impartial but the story reflects what my friends in the Forces tell me) saying Canadian (and allied) forces are grossly overstretched.
Here's the problem -- to defeat the Taliban (those people who throw acid in schoolgirls' faces) we need a major increase in forces. That increase might lead to a major uptick in Taliban strength; nationalism breeds anger at foreign troops. And so we might need even more troops.
President Obama is sending more forces to Afghanistan -- Iraq seems quieter -- but it's not a good situation.
3 comments:
It's a terrible situation & we need to get out of there asap. Obama adding more troops won't make any difference & only worsen the situation - in the eyes of ordinary Afghans who are indiscriminately being slaughtered.
I think you said it yourself Man. More troops equal more taliban equal more troops. It is a never ending proposition. I'm afraid I'm with Penlan on this one. Get out asap.
CBC figured out we're "overstretched?" We've been overstretched for seven years, Jim. Canada's forces have been overstretched since Hillier boondoggled his way into the Kandahar mission. The supposedly great General Petraeus prescribes a force of 1 counterinsurgent (rifles on the ground) for every 25-50 civilians. Do the math. Do you see a half-million strong combat force in Afghanistan? Read Petraeus' field manual (FM3-24 available free on the internet) and you'll see the cardinal rule of counterinsurgency is go big or go home.
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