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Thanks for the update, Joe.

Now, how much longer until we can declare victory and get out of Afghanistan?

Great, great reporting, Joe. Thanks for this.
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What can you say, but I hope McCrystal is right.
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But that hardly seems a sufficient basis for a democracy “taking on security and political commitments that will last at least a decade and a cost that will probably eclipse that of the Iraq war.”
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Is our goal there to end the fighting? It doesn’t seem to be to vanquish the Taliban.

http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/the-gas-must-flow/

Thanks Joe! I love these updates. I wish the general public were more educated about these wars.

What is it, exactly, that we are trying to do in Afghanistan?
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If it’s to defeat and banish the Taliban, then surely we’ve realized by now that’s not going to happen. Whether it’s history, habit, or just “better the devil you know,” the people’s dependence on/allegiance to/fear of the Taliban seems much too deeply entrenched for us to overcome, no matter how many troops we throw at the problem.
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If it’s not to defeat the Taliban but to “stabilize” Afghanistan, then what’s our yardstick? How will we know when we’ve succeeded? And exactly how much more time and money, and, most importantly, how many more lives, are we willing to sacrifice toward that amorphous goal?
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Please, someone explain to me again exactly what “victory” in Afghanistan, the graveyard of empires, is supposed to look like.

Typical BS. Joe Klein drops into Afghanistan, becomes an instant expert, tells the general in charge what he’s doing wrong, and splits before getting too close to anything dangerous.
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Tell me, Joe, when did you lecture at the War College?
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Okay, here’s an easier one: can you find Afghanistan on a map?

Thanks, Joe, for continuing to bring attention to the efforts of our men and women fighting in Afghanistan.
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Related note: The Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton has, in addition to an awesome collection of historical aircraft, an interactive presentation on the Battle at Takur Ghar in 2002. Hopefully, more of our Troops’ sacrifices will come to light over the coming years.

We need more leaders like Captain Jeremiah Ellis. If anyone has any doubt about the effectives of COIN operations I invite you to read The Village by Bing West. You will see that the work and effort by a small group of Marines in a village in Viet Nam was so effective that the North Vietnamese didn’t even bother with that area of South Viet Nam even after we left and gave up the fight.