Andrew Bacevich: Redefine Victory in Afghanistan | Newsweek Newsweek: Global Agenda

Deployments and Diplomacy
Henry Kissinger 10/3/2009 12:00:00 AM
The request for additional forces by the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, poses cruel dilemmas for President Obama. If he refuses the recommendation and General McChrystal's argument that his forces are inadequate for the mission, Obama will be blamed for the dramatic consequences. If he accepts the recommendation, his opponents may come to describe it, at least in part, as Obama's war. If he compromises, he may fall between all stools—too little to make progress, too much to still controversy. And he must make the choice on the basis of assessments he cannot prove when he makes them.
Bundy’s Blunders
Jonathan Alter 10/3/2009 12:00:00 AM
We're told that this month's marathon policy meetings about Afghanistan mark a fateful moment in the Obama presidency—a fork in the road. But that's only true if the president sharply escalates the number of U.S. ground forces. As everyone learned the hard way in Iraq, getting out is a helluva lot harder than getting in. If, by contrast, Obama chooses to limit U.S. involvement to fighting Al Qaeda, and stops short of a commitment to protect civilians from the Taliban, he has more options for a midcourse correction. That wouldn't be as fateful. (Click here to follow Jonathan Alter)
Know Thy Enemy. And Then Defeat Him.
Jon Meacham 9/26/2009 12:00:00 AM
For several weeks now—beginning in the last days of August—people inside the Obama administration, the military, and the diplomatic community have been unusually unanimous on the subject of Afghanistan. Their refrain: we do not know what is going to happen; no one knows what is going to happen. Then they pause, and, in case we missed the point, say: we do not know what is going to happen.
How Long Was the Hundred Years’ War?
9/26/2009 12:00:00 AM
One hundred seventeen years, to be precise. And you thought the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan were never-ending—although at this rate, they might be. Iraq has now outlasted World War II, while in March Afghanistan will edge out Vietnam as the longest American war ever.
The Way Out of Afghanistan
Fareed Zakaria 9/12/2009 12:00:00 AM
It's time to get real about Afghanistan. Withdrawal is not a serious option. The United States, NATO, the European Union, and other nations have invested massively in stabilizing the country over the past eight years, and they will not—and should not—abandon it because the Taliban is proving a tougher foe than anticipated. But it's also time for the Obama administration to get real about the country. There continues to be a large gap between the goals being outlined by the administration and the means available to achieve them. This gap is best closed not by sending in tens of thousands more troops but rather by understanding the limits of what we can reasonably achieve in Afghanistan.
Protection Rackets
Christopher Dickey 7/31/2009 12:00:00 AM
Long ago and far away in the wars of Central America, I learned from a Guatemalan general (who had been trained by the French in Algeria and coached by the Israelis) that a war against guerrillas is essentially a protection racket. Civilians are helpless and indecisive, caught between the government forces and the insurgents, and thus unreliable. They might help you in the morning, then help your enemy in the evening. So the message the government has to send is as clear as it is cruel: we can protect you from the guerrillas, but the guerrillas cannot protect you from us—and you've got to choose.