Afghanistan: Decision Time Has Come for Obama
Editorial, The Independent | 9 October, 2009
After only nine months in office, it is time for President Obama to make some tough decisions on ‘his war' in Afghanistan. ++ His options are shifting the focus from Afghanistan to a targeted anti-terrorist campaign, or alternatively, calling for a full-scale counter insurgency-war to take down the Taliban. ++ Obama should not seek the middle way as that would risk the worst of both worlds: "a commitment insufficient to make military progress, but enough to increase opposition to a seemingly futile conflict."
Tue, Oct 13th 2009, 07:24
Patrick Edwin Moran, Wake Forest University, Platinum Contributor (207)
It is impossible to tell from this summary whether the actual article has anything of value to contribute. Does it have anything to say about how Obama should see planning for Afghanistan in terms of the transnational criminal groups operating under the guise of Muslim unity? Does it have anything to say about whether U.S. efforts will be complemented by strong support from other interested nations? Does it have any research to report on what part of the population in Afghanistan views the US and other Western forces as conquerors operating under the guise of giving aid to a struggling nation, what part of the populations views the US and other Western forces as allies in their attempt to form a nation that can protect the interests of its own people, and to what extent these various points of view may follow ethnic lines?