General McChrystal Talks About What Is Victory In A Place Like Afghanistan

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, right, meets with U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of International Security Assistance Force and commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, in Kabul, March 8, 2010. DoD photo by Cherie Cullen

Man Versus Afghanistan -- Robert D. Kaplan, The Atlantic

Divided by geography, cursed by corruption, stunted by poverty, staggered by a growing insurgency—Afghanistan seems beyond salvation. Is it? From Somalia and the Balkans to Iraq, the U.S. military has been embroiled in conflicts that reflect an age-old debate: Can individual agency triumph over deep-seated historical, cultural, ethnic, and economic forces? Drawing on his experiences in Iraq, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Stanley McChrystal, has his own answer to that question.

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My Comment: I have been a frequent critic of Robert Kaplan's works .... but he excels in this article for the Atlantic. To get into what is the mindset of General McChrystal .... this is a good article to start from.