Commentary: Petraeus has answers on Afghanistan, based on hope

[unhappycamper]

Commentary: Petraeus has answers on Afghanistan, based on hope
By Trudy Rubin | The Philadelphia Inquirer
Posted on Tuesday, December 21, 2010

KABUL, Afghanistan — As President Barck Obama was rolling out his Afghan policy review, I had the chance to visit U.S. forward-operating bases in the Taliban heartland and to interview Gen. David Petraeus.

I came away convinced that, after the surge of 30,000 U.S. troops, real progress is being made in clearing the Taliban from large areas in the south - and disrupting its networks. Yet a visit to Camp Hansen, a dusty U.S. outpost in hotly contested Helmand province, made clear why Obama called those gains "fragile" and said they could be reversed.

U.S. troops hope to expand and link "ink spots" - areas cleared of Taliban - in rural Helmand districts such as Nawa and Marjah. The U.S. military wants to transition partial responsibility for Nawa to Afghan civilian and military personnel by next summer.

But that goal is undercut by two factors. First, the central Afghan government in Kabul hasn't sent personnel to staff local and district offices - or to dispense justice. The failure to adjudicate land disputes pushes farmers into the arms of the Taliban, which operates religious courts. Moreover, the central government often appoints corrupt provincial and district governors or tries to fire honest ones. It took heavy NATO pressure to keep the capable governor in Helmand from being fired by President Hamid Karzai.

Second, when the Taliban is driven out of Helmand, it can find sanctuary across the border in Pakistan. Marine Col. David Furness told reporters that the Taliban brought in weapons and electronic components along the "rat line" from Pakistan. "If they couldn't go to Pakistan, it would be over," he said.

[HillbillyBob]

1. Hope is so overrated.

For so many of us who have lost jobs, home, safetynet(soon there will be none cause idiots voted for baggies), hope was the last thing out the door. Now all we have is spite and bitterness for the elites that are now trying to steal the funds that we were forced to pay into SS. HOW the hell are we supposed to live or do we riot?

[Tunkamerica]

2. Barck Obama?

[PoliticAverse]

3. Hope?

[GeorgeGist]

4. Hope is wishful thinking and nothing more.