In West Point speech, President Obama was crystal clear: American troops would begin to withdraw from Afghanistan in July 2011. General Petraeus is trying to move the goalposts.
The U.S. strategy in Afghanistan is failing if measured by the standards proposed by General Stanley McChrystal during his confirmation hearings in June 2009.
The Associated Press reports that President Obama "plans to ask Congress for an additional $33 billion to fight unpopular wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"End the U.S. Occupation and Air War in Afghanistan" is the title of a resolution endorsed over by the 300-member executive board of the California party.
Warning: Some graphic images.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal told Congress that the measure of success in Afghanistan should be "the number of Afghans shielded from violence." Fail.
ZP Heller, Brave New Foundation. September 24, 2009.
The United States added troops in Afghanistan in each of these years. ICOS's maps show that none of these troop increases arrested the growth of the insurgency.
"Rethink Afghanistan, Part Six: Security" includes CIA officers, regional experts, and Afghan leaders who explain how U.S. war policies in Afghanistan undermine American security.