As the Obama administration ponders the way forward in Afghanistan, the AfPak Channel reached out to experts who have lived in Afghanistan or researched and reported from the region for extended periods of time to ask, in about what a senior National Security Council staffer might have time to say to him in one of the meetings that is now going on in the White House, what they would tell Obama as he considers his options. These are their answers.
More Talking, Not More Troops - Graeme Smith
Prioritize in Afghanistan - J Alexander Thier
Nearly Anywhere Terrorists Operate - Michael Innes
It's Not About the Number of Troops - Gretchen Peters
An Articulate Plan for Security - Asma Nemati
Time for the Heavy Lifting - Peter Bergen
Comments
This is perhaps the problem: A bunch of advice from "experts" on AF/PAK.
First, the problem isn't "AF/PAK," the problem is that AQ is conducting a very savy UW campaign in the Middle East, and that a main component of that compaign is to break the US role in the region.
My advice to the President is to step back from AF/PAK and look for experts on this Mission, not a particular region where we went to engage in the pursuit of that mission.
Once the President starts getting advice on how we best counter such a campaign, and how we best adjust U.S. foreign policy to address the root causes that make so many populaces that are susceptible to AQ's message to blame/target the U.S., we will begin to make significant headway in restoring US credibility and security.