Departing UN envoy says Afghan strategy is too 'military-driven'

[laststeamtrain]

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

Departing UN envoy says Afghan strategy is too 'military-driven'
By Dion Nissenbaum, McClatchy Newspapers Sat Mar 6, 2:34 pm ET

KABUL, Afghanistan — Hours before boarding a flight out of Kabul , Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide delivered a final warning Saturday as he wrapped up his two-year tenure as the top United Nations diplomat in Afghanistan .

"This year can become a year when negative trends are reversed, but it will require a tremendous effort and mobilization of political energy," Eide told a small women's conference. "So far, I do not see that mobilization of political energy . . . . If this does not happen, then I believe the negative trends will become unmanageable."

In his final weeks, Eide stepped up his push for political talks with the Taliban as the best way to end the eight-year-old war, and in his final press conference, he expressed concern that President Barack Obama's decision to send 30,000-35,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan is coming without a concurrent political surge.

"I believe that the focus is too much on the military side and too little on the civilian side," Eide said. "And that our strategy has unfortunately been too much military-driven with a political agenda as an appendix to military strategy, instead of a political strategy being the basis for the military operations."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100306/wl_mcclatchy/3444824

[SlingBlade]

1. But, But, But... The Change, The Change !

[jwirr]

2. Our foreign policy has been too military driven since the 1950s.

Korea was the first be scared war and it has been going on ever since.

[gratuitous]

3. But we're not smart enough to do anything else

The official religion of the United States is the belief in the power of violence to save or redeem any situation. We simply can't imagine any other way of solving a problem. So that's where we put our money, our manpower and our brightest minds, and hand out the biggest rewards.

[DallasNE]

4. The Biden Plan

I thought included a plan to attempt to drive a wedge between the Taliban and al Qaeda. I don't see that aspect coming into play and it disappoints me because it now looks like they are going all the way with the corrupt Karzai regime. On the other hand, I am seeing important progress in Pakistan and that is all for the good so it is some good and some bad.

[No Elephants]

8. There was some of the "Taliban is not Al Qaeda" talk from generals a while ago.

Even some talk of partnering with the Taliban against Al Qaeda.

However, if you knew about the Biden Plan, it's a good bet Al Qaeda and the Taliban did as well.

[Robb]

5. Kai Eide has been a fantastic loose cannon

...I hope he keeps talking. :toast:

[Canuckistanian]

6. I don't know how many times it's been said

But investment in education, health care and employment are FAR more effective in war zones than all the bullets, tanks and bombs.

Give the people something to LIVE for and they'll reject their local warlord or Taliban bully EVERY time.

Bomb the crap out of them and they'll side with your enemy on the principle of "the devil you know"

[EFerrari]

11. "When you bomb people, you make them angry." -- HZ

[warm regards]

7. Imagine that--a military-driven war.

[No Elephants]

9. Are we at war with Afghanistan? Besides, our military is not supposed to drive our wars.

The Constitution placed our military firmly under civilian control--in theory.

Congress declares our wars. The President, who is a civilian when he is President, is CIC of the military. He says what he wants done. Generals are supposed to figure out how to take a hill or a bridge. They are not supposed to drive policy.

[warm regards]

10. Look, I think the war, police action, or whatever you want to call it,

is a total wasted of blood and treasure. Having said that, we, as a nation, have made the decision to send our young men and women to Afghanistan to fight. Thus, we have a moral obligation to provide them the strategies and the tools to stay alive and win.

If that means the military drives policy--so be it.