While insisting once again that the war is making “progress,” Army Major General James Terry, the commander of forces in southern Afghanistan, warned against any troop cuts in the region, saying the situation was fragile.
Maj. Gen. Terry insists it was unlikely that the troop level would drop at all in the region through 2011, insisting the Taliban remains a threat to locals who cooperate with the occupation forces.
State Department official Henry Ensher, who was also touting the “progress” in the war today, seemed to take a similar position, suggesting “its going to be important for some time to maintain a really strong level of commitment.”
The official position on the Afghan War has been extremely nebulous, as Obama Administration officials continue to refer to the July 2011 drawdown while others have disavowed it over a year ago, and Vice President Joe Biden vowed earlier this week that the US would stay in Afghanistan “well beyond 2014.“
Three of the six "NATO" soldiers reported killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday have already been identified as US soldiers. The three were killed by an IED attack in Ghanzi province.
A general who wants either more and no reduction in troops. How novel of him
The good General to Washington: "Send more brrrrrrrrains…"
Ummm, what exactly is "fragile progress?" Might that be like walking on egg shells? Walking on land mines? Playing catch with grenades? You know, after the pin is pulled? "Fragile progress" must be the futile prospect of extricating one's self from a bloody quagmire. Maj. Gen. Terry can do it but, all he'll need is about 15 or 20 thousand more American boys and girls that are 'expendable'.
When would a general EVER propose cuts in the number of soldiers? When would a bureaucrat propose cuts in his department's budget?
A general will want the war to go on for as long as possible, since it might be his only chance of climbing the ladder. That General Staff position is waiting like an oasis in the horizon.
This is why Baron von Klausewitz said that wars are too important to be left in the hands of generals.