Dubious Afghan Vote Drove U.S. to Revisit Strategy

[laststeamtrain]

Source: WSJ

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

Dubious Afghan Vote Drove U.S. to Revisit Strategy

By PETER SPIEGEL

The public debate in Washington over the White House's unexpected reappraisal of its Afghan strategy has focused on troop numbers and military tactics. But the Obama administration's focus is on another issue: Is Afghan President Hamid Karzai a reliable ally?

According to senior administration officials, the Afghan war plan that President Barack Obama announced in March -- which called for a comprehensive and manpower-intensive counterinsurgency strategy -- was built around the assumption that Mr. Karzai would emerge from last month's elections with new legitimacy, a critical factor in fighting a guerrilla enemy.

But allegations of widespread vote fraud in the Afghan balloting have revived long-held skepticism within Mr. Obama's national-security team -- including the increasingly influential Vice President Joe Biden -- about Mr. Karzai's role, convincing the White House that a complete rethink was warranted.

"Forget even the McChrystal report," said a senior administration official, referring to the grim assessment of the war effort submitted three weeks ago by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan. "Every counterinsurgency is built on one credible partner."

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[NecklyTyler]

1. President Obama hasn't had enough time in office to put together his plan. This one was Bush's

President Obama gave the green light to the Generals in the Pentagon to go ahead with the Bush plans that were already on the books.

As we can see, Bush's plan only made things worse. The situation would have deteriorated no matter who implemented the NeoCon's plans