Winning the War in Afghanistan

[garandman]

Years ago ('82) I went to Armored Cavalry Officers Basic Course with a guy name Pete Mansoor. He was a very smart, but well-grounded and personable guy and #1 in his class at USMA.

He reached the rank of Colonel and was a Brigade Commander in Iraq and Chief of Staff for General Petraeus (Commanding 101st Airborne) before retiring to become a history professor at Ohio State. He has written several books, the most recent "Baghdad at Sunrise" about his experience in Iraq.

He recently completed a two week visit to Afghanistan that has resulted in several news articles and Op Ed pieces that detail, as he put it:

back from Afghanistan. I'm co-authoring (with Max Boot) an op-ed on the status of the war - will share it when published. The counterinsurgency campaign in Kandahar and Helmand provinces is going better than advertised. The chattering classes have not yet caught up to reality in the war.

Here are some links.

The President Shouldn't Listen to Councils of Dispair on Afghanistan

Winning in Afghanistan

NATO Push Deals Taliban a Setback in Kandahar

Why we must stick with Obama's Afghan strategy

Cliff Notes: Pete says we need to win in Afghanistan to influence Pakistan and other countries in the region. And we can.

 

[bpm990d]

Thanks for posting. I saw him on CSPAN or Charlie Rose. Very interesting.

B

 

[Skysoldier]

I am definitely going to check those links!

Being a Vietnam Veteran, I am worried that this whole shit in Afghanistan is just another Deja Vu of Vietnam.

I hope I am wrong.......but it still has me worried!

 

[garandman]

You already hear people ready to pull pitch, so I'm glad someone as highly respected as Col Mansoor can give it some visibility.