Still No Plan for Afghanistan!

Updated 20 May 2012:

A New Strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan27 Mar 09White House
“Today, I am announcing a comprehensive, new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. And this marks the conclusion of a careful policy review, led by Bruce [Reidel], that I ordered as soon as I took office.”

Report on Afghan war will not ask for more troopsGoogle News – 5 Aug 09

Gen. may ask for more troops for AfghanistanArmyTimes – 31 Jul 09

Newsletter comment: The administration and Pentagon have been reviewing the Afghanistan policy for over seven months with still no real plan in place to WIN this war!

 CNN Poll: Support for Afghanistan war drops – CNN – 6 Aug 09

 U.S. Commander Warns Taliban Getting StrongerFoxNews – 10 Aug 09

 Pentagon Disputes Claim That Taliban Is Winning in AfghanistanFoxNews – 10 Aug 09

 Patience Needed to Beat Taliban, McChrystal SaysDefenseLink – 11 Aug 09

 Operation Aims to Secure Southern Afghanistan for ElectionsDefenseLink – 12 Aug 09

 Order to protect Afghans frustrates U.S. troopsMSNBC – 13 Aug 09

 U.S. Marines Fight House-to-House in Afghan Taliban StrongholdFoxNews – 13 Aug 09

 Gates: ‘A few years’ of combat in AfghanistanYahoo! News – 13 Aug 09

 Gates Might Agree to More Troops for AfghanistanVOA – 13 Aug 09

Newsletter comment: I believe it is becoming very clear just looking at the headlines above that there is absolutely no clear plan in Afghanistan.  The war in Afghanistan is becoming more like Vietnam each day, where the changing rules of engagement will endanger our troops with no clear policy for them to follow.  This is NOT good for moral… 

SECDEF Gates, Gen. McChrystal and the White House seem to be changing their positions on a daily basis!

 Gates Notes Security Progress Prior to Afghan ElectionDefenseLink – 13 Aug 09

 Top General in Afghanistan Looks to Replace Support Force With Combat TroopsFoxNews – 14 Aug 09

 Obama Pledges Increased Pressure in AfghanistanDefenseLink – 20 Aug 09

 War strategy in Afghanistan due for shift as patience runs shortSeattle Times – 24 Aug 09
 

“Allied military commanders in Afghanistan have told a senior U.S. envoy they need more troops to deal with an intensifying insurgency in the country’s east, raising the possibility the Obama administration may refocus the war on the lawless border with Pakistan.”

 
 Obama facing hard choices on Afghan war planArmyTimes – 24 Aug 09

 Report: Change strategy for fighting TalibanArmyTimes – 31 Aug 09

 McChrystal Delivers Assessment to U.S., NATO LeadersDefenseLink – 31 Aug 09  

Op-ed: Time to Get Out of Afghanistan by George F. Will – Washington Post – 1 Sep 09
 

Newsletter comment:  I hate to say it, but Mr. Will has raised some very important points that need to be considered. Clearly the administration has no clear plan after nearly seven months of reviews of what direction to take. Gen. McChrystal wants more troops but will probably not get the numbers he wants because of pressures from the left.  President Obama and SECDEF Gates have some very tough decisions to make, and soon! – Roger Young

Editorial: Setback in Afghanistan – The right response is not a retreat.Washington Post – 3 Sep 09

Military leery of Afghanistan escalation with no clear goals by Nancy A. Youssef, Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel – 7 Sep 09

 Gates Tells Al-Jazeera U.S. Cannot Think of Afghan WithdrawalDefenseLink – 8 Sep 09

Newsletter comment: So is this the Obama plan for Afghanistan? A nice chat with Al-Jazeera?


 Trapped in Afghanistan killing zone, nowhere to run by Jonathan S. Landay – 9 Sep 09

 Airstrikes in Afghanistan drop by almost halfUSA Today – 9 Sep 09

 Congress wants hearings on war assessmentArmyTimes – 10 Sep 09

 Pelosi: Upping troops to Afghanistan unpopularYahoo! News – 10 Sep 09

 Open Letter to the President Regarding Afghanistan by co-editor, Roger Young. Please see:

http://northwestvets.com/President_Afghanistan.htm

 Outmanned and outgunned in Afghanistan by Jonathan S. Landay – Seattle Times – 14 Sep 09

 More ‘combat enablers’ Afghan-boundArmyTimes – 14 Sep 09

 Mullen Says More Forces Likely Needed in AfghanistanFoxNews – 15 Sep 09

 Analysis: White House postponing hard calls on warYahoo! – 15 Sep 09

 Gates Weighs Need for More Troops in AfghanistanDefenseLink – 15 Sep 09

 Obama: No ‘Immediate Decision Pending’ on More Troops to AfghanistanFoxNews – 16 Sep 09

Newsletter comment:  I suggest our viewers get a copy of “Dereliction of Duty” by H.R. McMaster.  You will see that history is repeating itself… Roger Young

 GOP seeks Afghanistan info; Gates urges patienceYahoo! News – 17 Sep 09

Newsletter comment: Yet another in a long list of stall tactics by the Pentagon and Obama administration. Can our troops wait?

Editorial: Afghanistan is not Vietnam … yetWashington Times – 17 Sep 09

 Military growing impatient with Obama on Afghanistan by Nancy A. Youssef – 18 Sep 09

“…Adding to the frustration, according to officials in Kabul and Washington, are White House and Pentagon directives made over the last six weeks that Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, not submit his request for as many as 45,000 additional troops because the administration isn’t ready for it…”

 Afghanistan Strategy Must Focus on al-Qaida, Obama SaysDefenseLink – 20 Sep 09

 White House Urges Patience on Afghan War Strategy, After McChrystal Sounds WarningFoxNews – 21 Sep 09

Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s redacted assessment courtesy of The Washington Post

 
 Pentagon Delays Troop Request for Afghan WarFoxNews – 21 Sep 09

 Officials ponder adding drones, not troopsArmyTimes – 22 Sep 09

 U.S. Commanders Told to Shift Focus to More Populated AreasThe Washington Post – 22 Sep 09

 Commander to Request Thousands More Troops to Afghanistan As Early as WednesdayFoxNews – 22 Sep 09

 Powerful Lawmakers Press Desire for Gen. McChrystal to Testify on Afghan StrategyFoxNews – 23 Sep 09

 Joint Chiefs Chairman Likely to Sign Off on Afghanistan Troop Request, Aides SayFoxNews – 25 Sep 09

 Obama Calls Afghanistan NATO’s Most Important MissionDefenseLink – 29 Sep 09

 White House Pushes Back on Afghan War Criticism Ahead of Strategy SessionFoxNews – 30 Sep 09

“Ahead of a key strategy session on the Afghanistan war, the White House fired back Wednesday at critics who say President Obama is stalling on Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s request for more troops…”

 Afghanistan Talks Focus on Means, Not Ends, Press Secretary SaysDefenseLink – 30 Sep 09

 Obama’s War Council Divided on Afghan StrategyFoxNews – 1 Oct 09 

Opinion: McChrystal Now Just One of Many Leaders as Obama Rethinks Afghan Strategy FoxNews – 1 Oct 09

Gen. Stanley McChrystal has seemingly gone from President Obama’s counterinsurgency czar to just one among a sea of faces advising him on war policy in Afghanistan.

 Afghan Decision Expected in Matter of WeeksDefenseLink – 1 Oct 09

 Obama Meets With McChrystal in DenmarkFoxNews – 2 Oct 09

 Obama, advisers weigh Afghanistan optionsArmyTimes – 7 Oct 09

Newsletter comment:  My guess is the new strategy will be “McChrystal Light.”  It is lonely at the top, and being Commander-In-Chief cannot be a good position for a professional politician… 

 Official: Obama to Send Enough Troops to Keep Al Qaeda at BayFoxNews – 8 Oct 09

Opinion: Decision time in Afghanistan: Obama as Hamlet by Charles Krauthammer – Seattle Times – 10 Oct 09

 Pentagon Refutes Report That Obama Dispatched 13,000 Additional Troops to AfghanistanFoxNews – 13 Oct 09

 White House: No Troop Decision Until Afghan Election is ResolvedFoxNews – 18 Oct 09

 Gates: U.S. Cannot Wait for Afghan Election to Make Troop DecisionFoxNews – 20 Oct 09

Defense Secretary Robert Gates tells reporters aboard his plane to Tokyo that the administration cannot “sit on our hands” with regard to troop levels in Afghanistan.

 U.S. Tested Afghan Options in Secret War GameFoxNews – 26 Oct 09

 Obama Says He Will Not ‘Rush’ Decision on Afghanistan Strategy, Troop LevelsFoxNews – 26 Oct 09

 McCain exhorts Obama to make Afghan decision nowSeattle Times – 28 Oct 09

 Obama Reportedly Eyeing ‘McChrystal Light’ Plan for Afghan War With Small Troop BoostFoxNews – 28 Oct 09

 Officials: No rift between Obama, McChrystalArmyTimes – 31 Oct 09

 Obama Requests More Options for Troop LevelsFoxNews – 31 Oct 09

Newsletter comment:  This has become ridiculous! On March 27th the President announced his “new” policy and yet the debate continues… 

 White House: Afghan decision in coming weeksArmyTimes – 1 Nov 09

 Obama Calls for Revised Afghanistan War OptionsFoxNews – 12 Nov 09

 Obama: Afghanistan Decision a Matter of ‘Getting This Right’FoxNews – 13 Nov 09

Newsletter comment:  One could say that our President appears to be tortured to make the right decision and being extremely thoughtful.

I believe that our President is “dithering” because he knows any decision to increase troop strength will upset his base. I believe that politics is once again playing a major role in important military decisions as was often the case during Vietnam.  President Johnson and McNamara repeatedly ignored the recommendations of the Joint Chiefs and their commanders in Vietnam and decided to let the “whiz kids” micromanage the war from D.C. and we all know the outcome…

 Time on Afghan Strategy is Well-spent, Petraeus SaysDefenseLink – 13 Nov 09

 Big costs weigh on troop debateSeattle Times – 15 Nov 09

 Obama: Administration Leaks on Afghan War Strategy a Firing OffenseFoxNews – 18 Nov 09

 Obama Won’t Make Afghan Decision Before Thanksgiving, Aides SayFoxNews – 19 Nov 09

 Lawmakers Propose ‘War Surtax’ to Pay for Troop Increase in AfghanistanFoxNews – 23 Nov 09

 Obama to announce Afghanistan decision soonArmyTimes – 24 Nov 09

Obama promises to ‘finish the job’ in AfghanistanYahoo! News – 24 Nov 09

 Obama Issues Marching Orders on Afghanistan War StrategyFoxNews – 30 Nov 09

 Obama to Outline Plan to Send 30,000 Troops to Afghanistan Over Six MonthsFoxNews – 1 Dec 09

 The New Way Forward – The President’s Address [on Afghanistan]White House – 1 Dec 09

Written transcriptWhite House – 2 Dec 09

Gates Signals Afghanistan Withdrawal Date Could MoveFoxNews – 2 Dec 09

McChrystal ‘Absolutely Supportive’ of Surge TimelineFoxNews – 2 Dec 09

Newsletter comment:  After months of review, the new strategy has been announced by President Obama. This closes this topic but it will remain open for comments.

Bob Woodward book details Obama battles with advisers over exit plan for Afghan warWashington Post – 22 Sep 10

Why Is He Sending Them?” by Charles Krauthammer – 1 Oct 10

Newsletter comment: I read the book myself this past weekend. Mullen, Gates, Petraeus, McChrystal & Hillary Clinton pushed for a 40,000 troop surge for a counterinsurgency that would take from 12-15 years.

Obama scaled that plan back to 30,000 with the only real hope of “degrading the Taliban” with reviews scheduled for this December and next July – “exit ramps.” I have no doubt he intends to scale back our forces next July despite what Petraeus and Gates have been saying that these are simply scheduled reviews. Therefore, why the “surge”?

To be very honest Woodward’s book is depressing and when the facts get out to our troops it will be completely demoralizing. All concerned should not only read the Woodward book, but also “Dereliction of Duty” by H.R. McMaster for a direct comparison of what happened in Vietnam. History is sadly repeating itself. – Roger Young

Obama to move U.S. closer to Afghanistan exitArmyTimes – 21 Jun 11

Opinion: Obama and Afghanistan — The Careful Management of Failure by Christian Whiton – 22 Jun 11

Mullen calls Obama Afghanistan plan riskyArmyTimes – 23 Jun 11

Officials: Obama Leaving to Commanders Details on Afghan DepartureFoxNews – 26 Jun 11

Obama Troop Cuts Went Beyond Largest Withdrawal Offered By Top GeneralFoxNews – 28 Jun 11

Charting Obama’s Journey to a Shift on AfghanistanNew York Times – 19 May 12

About Roger Young

Roger served with A Troop, 3/17th Air Cav "Silver Spurs" as a Scout Crew Chief in Vietnam from '69 - '70.
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3 Responses to Still No Plan for Afghanistan!

  1. Roger Young says:

    I’m absolutely disgusted at the Pentagon and the Obama administration for the ongoing stalling tactics regarding their “review” of the policy in Afghanistan!
    Brave troops are dying while Obama fiddles!
    And where are the comments from my fellow veterans and those who supposedly “support” the troops?
    Your silence speaks volumes….
    White House fax: 202-456-2461

  2. Jamey Umbach says:

    Great blog! I like how everything is well written. I will be back to check for new posts. Thanks!!

  3. Superb post and you are a great writer.

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