'Plan B' For Afghanistan Aims To Spark Long Overdue Debate

[unhappycamper]

'Plan B' For Afghanistan Aims To Spark Long Overdue Debate
Dan Froomkin
First Posted: 09- 9-10 06:22 PM | Updated: 09- 9-10 06:22 PM

Nine long years into a war in Afghanistan that two out of three Americans no longer support, a group of disillusioned foreign policy experts is trying to kick-start an overdue national discussion about our goals in the region, and other ways that we might be able to achieve them.

Despite the growing opposition to the war outside the Beltway, there's been remarkably little serious debate about Afghan policy among those with the power to change it.

A new report by the ad hoc Afghanistan Study Group, officially unveiled on Wednesday, aims to change all that.

Flatly declaring what has become increasingly obvious over time -- that our efforts in Afghanistan are not only failing, they are actually counterproductive -- the report provides something that some anti-war activists say has been sorely missing until now: A coherent alternative to the current approach.

The Huffington Post first revealed the Afghanistan Study Group's conclusions in an exclusive story three weeks ago. The group's "Plan B" calls for a dramatic reduction in the American troop presence, a mission refocused on the minimal Al Qaeda threat rather than on trying to defeat the Taliban and a peace process that leads to power-sharing.

[elleng]

1. The Report:

http://www.afghanistanstudygroup.org/