Petraeus: Afghan tribes needed to fight militants

[Coventina]

Source: Associated Press

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan tribes are needed as crucial battlefield allies against the Taliban and other extremists in the same way local militias rose up to oppose insurgents in Iraq, the new military overseer of America's two wars said Thursday.

The tactic has long been endorsed by Gen. David Petraeus — the former top U.S. commander in Iraq whose outreach to Sunni sheiks helped oust al-Qaida-inspired militants from key areas and sharply decreased attacks.

But his latest comments — on his first trip to Afghanistan since taking charge of U.S. Central Command last week — appeared aimed at pressing the Afghan leadership to recognize the need for tribal militia allies at a time when violence in Afghanistan is at its highest levels since 2001.

It also reflects Washington's expected shift in military focus from Iraq to Afghanistan and the neighboring tribal areas in Pakistan, which President-elect Barack Obama has described as the main showdown against the resurgent al-Qaida, Taliban and other militants.



Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gKQgVdBxfhWneF-UNXpC...

[theoldman]

1. He better rethink this one.

The situation is totally different in Afghanistan than in Iraq. The Afghans love the Taliban more than us.

[Uncle Joe]

2. I believe the best way to tackle them together as Petraeus suggests

would be to settle the Kashmir dispute between and India and Pakistan.

"In the interview, Petraeus said the war in Afghanistan is closely intertwined with the fight in Pakistan, and they need to be tackled together."

Thanks for the thread, Coventina.

[Coventina]

3. Hey thanks to you for reading!

[Uncle Joe]

4. Your links on both threads

keeps saying "Internet Explorer cannot open and to abort"?

Peace

[Coventina]

5. Hmmm, that's odd. It works for me. I don't know what to say.

I'm not that computer literate, I just copy & paste.

[Uncle Joe]

7. The odd thing is, I opened it with no problem a minute ago to paste that quote from Petraeus.

"In the interview, Petraeus said the war in Afghanistan is closely intertwined with the fight in Pakistan, and they need to be tackled together."

After I had the problem with with your Chinese Cave thread link, I went back to this one and it started acting up.

Oh well, thanks anyway, have a good night.

[bemildred]

6. This is very Alice-in-Wonderlandy.

Taliban and "extremists" and "Afghan tribes" are not distinct entities. They are all pretty much the same people, although there might be some "foreign fighters" in the mix.

[Alamuti Lotus]

8. Indeed

The foreign fighters are the same three Chechens, Uzbeks, and Uyghurs they've been blowing up for years. Somehow these guys found the secret to instant resurrection and keep showing up in the news reports. In another time, that would've been called a miracle, but we don't really have the attention span for that sort of thing anymore.

On the other hand, it's slightly disconcerting that "whatever they're paying you, I'll double it" is somehow the best policy they can come up with at the moment. But per Voltaire's maxim, "O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous"...

[bemildred]

9. "whatever they're paying you, I'll double it"

Well, it's pragmatic, like the Byzantine Greeks were, they were always willing to buy you off if it wasn't convenient to kick your ass. But then, it indicates that we are not in a position to kick their ass, eh? And it completely evades the question of why are we there, what is the mission? Is it just to perpetuate the mission, is that the mission?

[ixion]

10. exactly

he's showing his ignorance of the reality on the ground, as it were.