McChrystal new strategy sounds like what we are doing now

NY Times:

The top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, said Monday that conditions on the ground were “serious” but that the war here is still winnable, part of a long-awaited assessment of the American-led war.

Officials in Washington say that while the general’s classified report did not request additional American troops, it effectively lays the groundwork for such a request in coming weeks.

The change in strategy envisioned by General McChrystal would invest the United States more extensively in Afghanistan than it has been since toppling the Taliban government in 2001, Washington officials said. For President Obama, who already ordered another 21,000 troops to Afghanistan this year, the prospect of an even more extensive commitment of American troops would test his political commitment to the war at a time when he is already trying to tamp down discontent in his liberal base.

In recent weeks, senior American officers here have said that they do not have enough troops to succeed. The American commanders and officials in Kabul were ordered to neither reveal the details of the assessment nor talk about them.

General McChrystal took over American and NATO forces in Afghanistan in June, with an explicit charge to reverse the course of the war. Though it is still only August, 179 American soldiers have already been killed this year, making it the deadliest yet since the war began nearly eight years ago. Still, the general said that the war can still be won.

“The situation in Afghanistan is serious, but success is achievable and demands a revised implementation strategy, commitment and resolve, and increased unity of effort,” General McChrystal said in a statement.

...
We need to increase our force to space to be able to protect the people. To do that we will need more Afghan troops and police and more US and allied forces to train them and help clear areas for them to hold. All the reporters seems to be struggling with finding news in this report and that is because there is little new here. If the General is going to request additional troops it will be later and that will show a real commitment to victory.

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