Posted on 07/20/2008 12:35:10 AM PDT by Zakeet
With the two presidential hopefuls arguing over how to fight the Afghan war, and one of them currently in the battle-scarred country - the Bush administration recently held a secret meeting to brainstorm how to win it.
U.S. intelligence officials summoned top Afghanistan experts to Virginia, including ex-ground commander Army Lt. Gen. David Barno, to chart a plan for victory, the Daily News has learned.
One point several of the experts agreed on: Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are clueless about the seven-year war, because each wants a troop surge. "Both candidates putting so much emphasis on troop numbers in Afghanistan have illustrated they have not grasped what the problem is," said New York University scholar Barnett Rubin, who attended the brainstorming summit.
[Snip]
The problem really is in neighboring Pakistan, where Taliban and Al Qaeda commanders lurk, said Rubin, an informal Obama adviser. "If you add more troops in Afghanistan, you'll probably just lead to more [Taliban] recruitment," he said.
The two candidates also fail to recognize that to win, troops need to mingle more with the locals, Naval Postgraduate School scholar Thomas Johnson said. "We have to go and find out what the people want, and then deliver on that," Johnson said. "The Taliban are operating like this seven days a week."
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Have to say the the NYDN is right here. The solution is similar to Iraq, get the cooperation of the locals if your actually want to win. More troops only works if you can get the support of the local Afghanistan people.
later in the article:
... said New York University scholar Barnett Rubin, who attended the brainstorming summit"- and which the article identifies as "an informal Obama advisor".
Bush administration...secret meeting that everyone seems to be commenting on...Obama advisor attending....- something doesn't compute here. I'm thinking this was really a resume building seminar with a free Continental breakfast.
The trick is to turn Afghanistan into a deathtrap for the Taliban. We have the smarts and the tech and the motivated young guys to do it, and the longer we are there the better at it we get.
We defeated the Terrorists in Iraq so now they are going to Afghanistan. We defeat them in Afghanistan and next they will go to Europe. Why not just keep killing them in Afghanistan? The place is perfect for it.
What the hell is going on in America.
The News Wipe said it was secret until Obama’s folks got involved.
These people can not be trusted and yet Obama has a shot to be president, just damn.
I don’t believe this story at all.
Lack of troops has been a problem for some time, Canada has been carring the load while other NATO members have been dragging their feet unwilling to go where the trouble is, which is along Paki-Stan’s border in southern Afghanistan.
Need troops to push into Pakistan, not mingle in the streets. There is plenty of mingling going on already. The fact that so many aid agencies CAN mingle in the streets tells that this story is rubbish.
Besides, why would Bush have a meeting with an Obama advisor and not a McCain rep?
Plus training Afghanistan troops takes time, and that is proceeding on schedule. So Afghanistan needs time and troops to weed out the Taliban in Pakistan.
build a fence
Obama might be clueless, but McCain knows how to win the war.
Do you really want us to stay there as long as it takes (maybe 20 years or so)? When you are fighting terrorists, you can’t win outright - only slow them down enough that the locals can keep them under control. I really don’t want the US there many more years.
However, I wonder how our Intel types get away with running their mouths to the media? Please someone tell me about all the great Intel combat commanders. Last I recall there was one MI CMH recipient.
1LT Sisler was serving as an HF platoon leader at C&C DET. He was serving in an Infantry slot. He is the only MI Corps Medal of Honor type to my knowledge.
Yep. I want to stay there as long as possible, killing as many as possible.
It didn’t make much news, but it has been confirmed that Bush personally has been briefing Hillary and Obama on national security matters, he probably doing the same for McCain. For the Bush Family, governing is different from campaigning. With Obama having a good shot at becoming President, I can easily see Bush asking Obama to send an advisor to this brainstorm.
Nice idea, but the future may require us to be in more places than we can police. I do like the idea of killing as many of them as we can, but it is not practical for only the US - it requires the perseverance of the locals to continue the fight long after we leave.
This is normal... He is not running and should advise all prospective candidates of the current security matters. I would be aghast if he did not do this...
They were running Afghanistan and allowed OBL to plan and train terrorists for 9/11.
Why are you so quick to end a fight against them?
Maybe you forgot about 9/11 or have forgotten their involvement. I am talking war here, not policing of possible future places. This is more than just the locals problem, they were partly responsible for 9/11 - an attack on US, not the locals in Afghanistan.
Btw, I don't appreciate your talking down to me with “do you really believe” and “nice idea”. If you want to continue this discussion then raise the maturity level that ought to be expected on FR and drop the condescending tone. Thank you.
So, the “experts” say that more troops equal more Taliban”? Now WHERE have we heard this before? That our very presence aids terrorist recruitment? He claims the secret is to mingle and interact with the natives. Great idea but we STILL need soldiers to fight on the front and the border while we spend all this glad time recruiting locals to our side.
Are more troops then only answer needed to win? No, just as it wasn’t in Iraq but we all see what happened when we sent those 40,000 extra fighters there. It’s really simple in the end, more good guys means less bad guys. Choke off the Pakistan border and methodically kill the Taliban left in Afghanistan.
No question we can kill them quicker then they can grow them.
You do not grant access to classified INFO unless the person has the proper security clearance plus a need to know.
Sorry if you took it as talking down to you...not my intent I assure you! I actually agreed with most of your statement, but know that it does take the locals to continue the fight or all will be lost over and over.
Sorry, that you took it that way, not my intent. Hardly forgot about 9/11...
All-around, it looks like a win-win situation.
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