November 10th, 2009 by Jason

Despite recent reports that President Obama was nearing a decision to deploy approximately 30,000 more troops, Meteor Blades at the Daily Kos explains that National Security Advisor Jim Jones denied the reports as “absolutely false.” Richard Cohen argues the U.S. must either surge or revert to counter-terrorism operations, as any middle ground would be not enough to win and just enough to lose. Max Boot urges President Obama to “embrace Karzai and give him some pointers while nudging him in a more reformist direction.” According to Boot, Karzai especially needs to learn how to act as a wartime president, as Prime Minister Maliki learned to do in Iraq.

Tom Hayden asks whether it is worth sending our soldiers to fight and die for a corrupt, unpopular Afghan regime. Furthermore, Hayden suggests that U.S. officials are not so much annoyed by corruption, but by Karzai’s willingness to negotiate with the Taliban before NATO can bargain from “a position of strength.” Any American willingness to negotiate with the Taliban hinges on their rejection of al-Qaeda. Juan Cole cites a recent Al-Jazeera interview in which Afghan militant Gulbadin Hikmatyar criticizes Usama Bin Laden as proof of a schism between al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Furthermore, Cole reasons that if the Taliban controls 10-15 percent of Afghanistan and there are only 100 al-Qaeda members in the country, then “neo-Talibanism does not imply the return of al-Qaeda.”

Posted in Afghanistan, Iraq, Middle Eastern Media, Military, Taliban, Terrorism, US foreign policy, al-Qaeda |