Senior Military Officers Alarmed Over The Slow Pace In The Afghan Campaign

U.S. Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan, and Spanish Minister of Defense Carmen Chacon speak prior to the start of the NATO-Georgia Commission at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, as part of a NATO Defense Ministerial, June 11, 2010. DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jerry Morrison

Pace Of Afghanistan Campaign Alarms Senior Military Officers -- The Captain's Journal

From Rajiv Chandrasekaran at The Washington Post:

Residents of this onetime Taliban sanctuary see signs that the insurgents have regained momentum in recent weeks, despite early claims of success by U.S. Marines. The longer-than-expected effort to secure Marja is prompting alarm among top American commanders that they will not be able to change the course of the war in the time President Obama has given them.

Firefights between insurgents and security forces occur daily, resulting in more Marine fatalities and casualties over the past month than in the first month of the operation, which began in mid-February.

Read more ....

My Comment: When U.S. forces entered Afghanistan after 9/11, my Russian uncle who served in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation told me that the U.S. must view such a conflict with a long term approach .... i.e. decades not years.

Nine and a half years later, the Afghan war is now the longest in our history, and many in Washington and the military are getting nervous and worried that the campaign is not succeeding at the pace when it was first conceptualized. After reading the Captain's post .... I can understand why.

My prediction .... General McChrystal will be replaced by the end of this year (a month or two after the Congressional elections) if no sizable gains are made in Afghanistan, and the Afghan Army is not ready to assume its responsibilities.