Reply #16: It is interesting that they are pulling away from a position of immediate pull out

[karynnj]

These same reasons are likely going to be heard if President Obama backs the counterterrorism approach over McChrystal's counterinsurgency approach. They are already being defined in black and white terms - where counterinsurgency is DEFINED to result in a stable, democratic, better country and counter terrorism is being defined as a policy that "just kills the terrorists." This is wrong for two reasons - counterinsurgency is not guaranteed to work and you are left with the government you are allied with and there is no reason that counterterrorism can't be combined (though independent) with redevelopment.

The fact is that counterterrorism does not have to be a stand alone policy. Reading a few articles on the Pakistan aid bill, it is clear that it could ultimately be the model for helping reconstruct Afghanistan's infrastructure, if they join us in fighting terrorism. Here is a link that has information on the Pakistan bill - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8689714&mesg_id=8689714