In his report to the President this summer, Gen. McChrystal stated that he thought the war in Afghanistan was winnable, but if things did not change quickly, it would be lost. McChrystal has now been handed nearly 100,000 American troops, along with thousands more NATO and Afghan partners, and given about a year to show that his counterinsurgency/kill-capture strategy is bringing stability and progress to the conflict. McChrystal is a sober man, but he is optimistic of our chances to turn things around. Here is a money quote from the General:
“The biggest thing is in convincing the Afghan people. This is all a war of perceptions. This is not a physical war in terms of how many people you kill or how much ground you capture, how many bridges you blow up. This is all in the minds of the participants.”
He certainly isn’t your grandfather’s General!
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