U.S. Navy Cmdr. Louis McCray, second from left, waves to a group of Afghan boys while walking to a tactical vehicle after completing a meeting with leaders in Farah City, Afghanistan, Jan. 3, 2013. McCray is the commander of Provincial Reconstruction Team Farah. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Petty Officer Josh Ives
A Mindless Debate Over U.S. Troops In Afghanistan -- Anthony Cordesman, Real Clear World/Center for Strategic and International Studies
The growing media and think tank debate over the future levels of U.S. military manpower for Afghanistan is as dangerous as it is mindless. The United States now plans to withdraw virtually all of its military and civil manpower from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. It is planning massive cuts in military and civil aid spending but has not made any details public.
At the best of times, military manpower totals are a largely meaningless metric. The issue is never whether there are 6,000 men and women or 30,000. The issue is what they are deployed to do, what roles and missions they perform, what combat role they will play if any, how well funded and equipped they are, and how they support an overall strategy, plan, and effort to achieve a real strategic result.
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My Comment: Anthony Cordesman nails it right. On the U.S. side there is no strategy, no planning, no analysis, no direction, no specific goals .... and most important of them all .... no leadership. Sighhh .... this is not going to end well.
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