paulitician
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- Oct 7, 2011
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In a rare insight into the front lines of Americas ten-year war in Afghanistan, an article in Armed Forces Journal by a career officer and three-war veteran says that official reports that conditions in Afghanistan are improving are false, hopes to establish proficient local governments and a self-sufficient Afghan military are fleeting, and the United States war effort can be characterized by the absence of success on virtually every level.
Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis arrived in Afghanistan in 2010. It didnt take long, he writes, to notice little to no evidence the local governments were able to provide for the basic needs of the people.
Some of the Afghan civilians I talked with, he writes, said the people didnt want to be connected to a predatory or incapable local government. From time to time, I observed Afghan Security forces collude with the insurgency.
March 2010′s official report from the Department of Defense tells a different tale. The government of Afghanistans authority, it reads, had been successfully extended and development projects were ongoing, including the establishment of enduring [Afghan National Police] checkpoints and police stations for permanent presence of Afghan governance and rule of law.
The disconnect between the official report and Lt. Col. Davis accounts are striking. Members of Congress, Lt. Col. Davis alleges, have decided to keep some statements from the public and the war lacks transparency. The spin, he writes, appears to illuminate a pathway to success while the full picture remains a mystery.
Read more: Afghanistan War | US officials | The Daily Caller
Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis arrived in Afghanistan in 2010. It didnt take long, he writes, to notice little to no evidence the local governments were able to provide for the basic needs of the people.
Some of the Afghan civilians I talked with, he writes, said the people didnt want to be connected to a predatory or incapable local government. From time to time, I observed Afghan Security forces collude with the insurgency.
March 2010′s official report from the Department of Defense tells a different tale. The government of Afghanistans authority, it reads, had been successfully extended and development projects were ongoing, including the establishment of enduring [Afghan National Police] checkpoints and police stations for permanent presence of Afghan governance and rule of law.
The disconnect between the official report and Lt. Col. Davis accounts are striking. Members of Congress, Lt. Col. Davis alleges, have decided to keep some statements from the public and the war lacks transparency. The spin, he writes, appears to illuminate a pathway to success while the full picture remains a mystery.
Read more: Afghanistan War | US officials | The Daily Caller