Afghan War May Shift Focus To Al Qaeda in Pakistan

nytimes.com:

President Obama's national security team is moving to reframe its war strategy by emphasizing the campaign against Al Qaeda in Pakistan while arguing that the Taliban in Afghanistan do not pose a direct threat to the United States, officials said Wednesday.

Read the whole story: nytimes.com

Comments

[henryberry]

So it appears that Obama is justifying a smaller increase in troops than requested on the grounds that this lower number will be effective in regard to the narrower focus (i. e., primarily Al-Qaeda and only secondarily the Taliban, opium farmers, and miscellaneous criminal and terrorist groups in the AfPak area). This is another political compromise which military people, Republicans, and related others will find agreeable. But it shows no grasp that the nature of the contest against terrorism is multi-faceted, global, and protean.

The U.S. is going to continue down the same wrong road, albeit a narrower wrong road. This resolution is typical of Obama's "brilliance" as his admirers want to see if. But there is no glimmer yet of a realistic, practical approach to dealing with terrorism as the threat exists rather than with the U.S. wishes it existed. The hours and hours of Obama's meetings with his War Council (as it is being called) haven't even been able to reinvent the wheel, but simply to give it a new name. And it''s not a wheel really, but a millstone.

[CigarGod]

Nice post.

Have a cigar.

[henryberry]

I already did - have a cigar today. I'll make sure to have one tomorrow too though since you suggested it.