COMMENT The political half of America’s strategy in Afghanistan is now in ruins. This is not just due to the debacle of the Afghan presidential elections. Eight years after US troops arrived in the country, as General Stanley McChrystal conceded in his report to President Barack Obama, there is a “crisis of confidence” among the Afghan people in their government.
As a result of the collapse of the political strategy, Washington’s military mission now appears to have no goal beyond the avoidance of defeat. Asked to define victory, the US special envoy, Richard Holbrooke, could only say, “We’ll know it when we see it.” American and allied soldiers should not be asked to sacrifice their lives for such an unclear goal.
