At a visit today with German parliament head Norbert Lammert, Afghan President Hamid Karzai called for yet another “new” Afghan War strategy, while insisting that the current strategy isn’t accomplishing its goals.
“The experience over the past eight years showed that fighting in Afghan villages has been ineffective and is not achieving anything but killing civilians” Karzai noted, adding that it was necessary to consider a “rethink.”
Of course there have been official “strategy changes” a number of times in the past eight years. Indeed, President Bush announced a strategy in 2008 and President Obama announced two new strategies in 2009 for the war. These changes have amounted, in essence, to massive escalations in funding and the number of troops on the ground.
So far the results have been a pretty precipitously steady rise in casualties and rising unpopularity of the war in Western nations. The civilian toll has also been rising, leading to criticism of the Karzai government.
Well, that will gonna be a good idea. Hope that will improved to avoid killing some civilians.
Sean
A "new" strategy presupposes that there was an "old" strategy. It didn't exist.
I've got a strategy worth considering: mind our own damn business. Let the Afghan tribes do what they've done for centuries – kill each other. Innocents may still get killed in the process, but it won't be Americans doing the killing. That alone would minimize the terrorist blowback.
Good, plan ahead and have a nice strategy, violence does not to be an option.
Jane