U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Makenzie C. Blackmon, right, and Afghan national police Lt. Col. Hajib Delaga, the commander of the provincial police training center, present a graduating student with his course certificate during a ceremony at the training center in Tirin Kot in Afghanistan's Uruzgan province, Nov. 14, 2013. Australian Defense Force photo by Cpl. Mark Doran
The War In Afghanistan Could Be Lost This Week -- Dan Lamothe and Yochi Dreazen, Killer Apps/Foreign Policy
The U.S. has sustained more than 2,200 combat deaths and burned through hundreds of billions of dollars in Afghanistan since 2001, when U.S. forces were first sent to fight al Qaeda and topple the Taliban-led government providing it sanctuary. But after all that bloodshed and treasure lost, the U.S. mission in Afghanistan may soon take a turn for the worse, strategically - and the results could mean the difference between winning and losing the war.
Just as officials with the U.S.-led military coalition in Kabul say they have trained the Afghan military well enough to stand on its own two feet in combat, President Hamid Karzai and U.S. officials are due to present this week a bilateral security agreement to thousands of Afghan tribal leaders for their approval. They will do so at a loya jirga, an Afghan assembly beginning Thursday that could approve or scuttle the deal.
Read more ....
My Comment: The U.S. - Afghan relationship is now at the crossroads. And while I do expect this alliance (and the war) to continue .... we are definitely entering a new phase.
Update: Pact May Extend U.S. Troops’ Stay in Afghanistan -- New York Times
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