The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee meets to consider the appointments of Navy Vice Adm. William McRaven, left, as commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, Army Gen. James Thurman , center, as commander of U.S. Forces Korea, and Marine Lt. Gen. John Allen as commander of U.S and international forces in Afghanistan, in Washington, D.C., June 28, 2011. DOD photo by U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jacob N. Bailey
The Last US Field Commander in Afghanistan -- Bing West, WestWrite.com
Helmand Province, Afghanistan
In late August 2011, General John R. Allen visited a base built atop the ruins of a 19th-century British fort here. Allen, an avid historian, grasped the irony of the setting. Over the previous 150 years, two British armies and one Russian army had left Afghanistan in frustration. Now Allen was in command of the fourth army to leave. He is the last NATO field commander, charged with extracting 140,000 international troops from combat while fighting a war with an uncertain outcome against an enemy with a certain sanctuary in next-door Pakistan.
By this year’s end, Allen must reduce his U.S. force by a third without conceding populated areas. He must place Afghan battalions with uneven leadership into the breach. And he must shore up a defense-in-depth to ward off attacks launched from inside Pakistan. The decisions of John Allen, age 58, a courteous gentleman from Virginia who is virtually unknown to the American public, will greatly affect whether Afghanistan holds together or descends into chaos.
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My Comment: Bing West's writings have always been a must read for me. In this article .... where he looks at the future of US involvement in Afghanistan .... his analysis is .... as usual .... spot on. Read it all.
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