While the Euros were skimping on troops, I found these two worthwhile videos about Afghanistan. The first features Fariba Nawa, an award-winning Afghan-American journalist, attempting to provide her audience with an Afghani view of the US/NATO presence in their country. In her short talk, Nawa argues that what most Afghans fear is that the US and all others will leave the country to yet another vicious civil war.
The second video features current Central Command leader Gen. David Petraeus providing a comprehensive overview of the Middle East for the World Affairs Council. Gen. Petraeus will be an integral figure to US military strategy and policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan and this video provides insight into his views of the conflict. He comes across cautious, yet optimistic. Because the whole program is a bit long, over an hour, here is his main Afghanistan assessment.
I will discuss the new European troop and financial offers to the conflict tomorrow.
