As was being leaked by the media (through unknown sources) the President has authorized to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. How will we pay for it is another story but for now, more troops more bloodshed is the strategy. Additionally the President has envisioned a drawdown of troops by the end of the first term of his Presidency (probably by 2011). So the U.S. is now acting like a corporate entity, hiring (surging) in some areas and drawdown (layoff) in some areas.
I believe that this surge will not work if the U.S. is thinking that they will dominate the Afghan population like that. As I have pointed out above, we really need to engage the Taliban (from the point of strength) but the strategy should be on multiple fronts and not the majority on defeating the Taliban (remember Vietnam).
Another thing is that by giving a time table without achieving the objectives (which I highly doubt would be able to accomplish by 2011) we will be giving the insurgents (or militants or Taliban) to wait out the withdrawal of U.S. forces. Furthermore it is not just the Taliban who will wait us out but the Pakistanis too since they have a huge stake in having a friendly (or client) state in Afghanistan.
We should be targeting our resources mostly in Pakistan and convince their leaders of their near fatal obsession with the dominant India. It has crept (or brainwashed) in the psyche of the Pakistan nation so much that they will rather die opposing India than to better their lives. Despite all the aid that we have been giving to Pakistan, the majority of the people there oppose the U.S (similarly to those of Egypt). So we have to change the mindset of the Pakistani People (which include their Politicians) otherwise we will be back to square one once we leave the area.
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