Krazy Karzai
Image by Getty Images via @daylifePresident Hamid Karzai said on Saturday that the United States must reduce the visibility and intensity of its military operations in Afghanistan and end the increased U.S. Special Operations forces night raids that aggravate Afghans and could exacerbate the Taliban insurgency.When the Taliban have been destroyed it will be time for the US to reduce its presence in Afghanistan. To do it before that would be foolish in the extreme.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Karzai said that he wanted American troops off the roads and out of Afghan homes and that the long-term presence of so many foreign soldiers would only worsen the war. His comments placed him at odds with U.S. commander Gen. David H. Petraeus, who has made capture-and-kill missions a central component of his counterinsurgency strategy, and who claims the 30,000 new troops have made substantial progress in beating back the insurgency.
"The time has come to reduce military operations," Karzai said. "The time has come to reduce the presence of, you know, boots in Afghanistan . . . to reduce the intrusiveness into the daily Afghan life."
...
One of the things I have noticed about Karzai of late is that he is much more critical of hose trying to defeat the Taliban than he is of the Taliban who are trying to destroy his government. What is up with that?
The counter insurgency operation requires a visible troop presence to cut off enemy movement to contact and to protect the people. What Karzai is suggesting would give the Taliban a freedom of movement that would endanger the people and the troops. The night raids are destroying Taliban leadership. I can understand why the Taliban would want us to stop, but not why the Afghan government would.
What Karzai is proposing makes no sense at this stage of the war. It might make sense in three or four years after the enemy has been eliminated.
Comments
Post a Comment