What Stan McChrystal Really Recommended
By Larry Johnson on October 8, 2009 at 3:10 PM in Current Affairs
The laughable notion that General Stanley McChrystal is an aspiring Douglas McArthur is fully exposed if one will only take time to read what McChrystal actually wrote and recommended with respect to the road ahead in Afghanistan.
If you start with p. i (the preamble) you will see that this assessment was produced in response to specific requests from Secretary of Defense Gates and the NATO Secretary General. McChrystal is not trying to steam roll anyone. He was asked to produce an assessment and did so. Period.
It is instructive to review McChrystal’s view of the war in Afghanistan. The key point according to the General?
The urgent need for a significant change to our strategy and the way that we think and operate (see p. ii).
Executing this new strategy requires expanding the Afghan military. McChrystal is not seeking to make this an American war or a European war. Just the opposite. He does not seek more US troops in order to seize territory or destroy “insurgent” forces. Instead he insists on a comprehensive counterinsurgency strategy.
Don’t take my word. Just read what he wrote. Success in Afghanistan ultimately depends on winning the support of the people and communities that comprise Afghanistan. McChrystal is especially critical of the tendency of the US and NATO forces to hide within fortified base and not have any significant cultural interaction with the various Afghan people. Unless we change this practice we will not succeed.
The new strategy rests on four pillars:
1. Develop the capabilities of the Afghan National Security Forces and rely more on them to conduct combat missions.
2. Improve governance at all levels.
3. Take immediate military action to reverse gains by the various insurgent groups.
4. Focus resources on areas where civilian populations are most vulnerable.
McChrystal wants and needs the new troops for one simple reason–a stop gap measure to buy time to train and equip the Afghan security forces while keeping the various insurgent groups at bay. The General is trying to walk a tight rope. Prevent the Taliban and other insurgent groups from swamping the Afghan government in the short term while intensifying efforts to let the Afghan security forces take charge and lead the fight.
Here is where it gets tricky and it is important for Americans to put away the stupid-ass propaganda spread by both the Bush Administration and, now, the Obama Administration.
The threat posed by Al Qaeda is less today compared to September 10, 2001. Al Qaeda has been weakened. Key leadership have been killed an captured. This does not mean they are harmless. They are not. But desire is not capability and they’re ability to project force–i.e. carry out attacks in other countries–is quite limited.
The Taliban is not a monolith. We currently are battling three major insurgent groups–the Quetta Shura Taliban, the Haqqani Network (HQN) and the Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin (HIG). It is worth remembering that HQN and HIG were two of the groups that we directly supported during the Soviet/Afghan war. Milt Bearden’s book, The Main Enemy, does an excellent job of detailing how difficult the thugs running HQN and HIG can be.
The Taliban is not the same as Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda consists primarily of jihadists that come from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Algeria and Somalia. Their vision of Islamic rule is not necessarily the vision embraced by the various Taliban groups.
Understanding and exploiting these differences is the key to gaining control over the situation in Afghanistan. McChrystal puts this message front and center. He also is cognizant of the fact that a Taliban controlled Afghanistan could once again create a deadly safehaven for Al Qaeda and their sympathizers, who have had to move their training and recruitment operations to less hospitable Pakistan.
We now have the spectacle of the Obama Administration reprising the role of Nero. They are partying and playing musical instruments while Rome is burning. McChrystal is not into “rosy” scenarios. The challenges in Afghanistan are long term. We will need to spend resources there–personnel and supplies–for several years. And politics, especially in Pakistan, are a critical element of achieving victory in Afghanistan.
This is not a war of choice. It is a war of necessity. Daylight is burning and the situation is deteriorating in Afghanistan while the Obama team dithers. The silver lining is that the onset of winter does limit the harm the Taliban and other insurgent groups can cause. This gives us a bit of a breathing space.
What is really unfortunate and worrisome is the unconscionable, shameless and cowardly smear of General McChyrstal for just doing his job. When you punish Generals for bringing you bad news and providing unvarnished advice you sow the seeds for a politicized, incompetent military. Bush and Rumsfeld did it and now, deja vu all over again, Obama is doing it.
by Ronald Scott
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