Break guerillas’ moral-mental-physical hold over the population, destroy their cohesion, and bring about their collapse via political initiative that demonstrates moral legitimacy and vitality of government and by relentless military operations that emphasize stealth/fast-tempo/fluidity-of-action and cohesion of overall effort.
*If you cannot realize such a political program, you might consider changing sides! -Page 108, Patterns of Conflict, Col. John Boyd
*****
I liked this op-ed because it was short and sweet. Each expert gave a quick rundown on what needs to happen, and it was cool to hear them reduce their thoughts on the matter to what is most important. It is twitter-like in a way.
With Twitter, you have 140 characters to produce something that is meaningful. It forces you to really think about what you want to say, because you are limited. And really, if you know the solution or solutions to the problem, and you have some conviction and passion about it, then it shouldn’t take you that long to communicate it. Less is more, less is more…..
Either way, check out these strategies, and the rock star strategists attached to these suckers, and let me know what you think. –Matt
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10 Steps to Victory in Afghanistan
October 4, 2009
Op-Ed Contributors
Reform or Go Home
COUNTERINSURGENCY is only as good as the government it supports. NATO could do everything right — it isn’t — but will still fail unless Afghans trust their government. Without essential reform, merely making the government more efficient or extending its reach will just make things worse.
Only a legitimately elected Afghan president can enact reforms, so at the very least we need to see a genuine run-off election or an emergency national council, called a loya jirga, before winter. Once a legitimate president emerges, we need to see immediate action from him on a publicly announced reform program, developed in consultation with Afghan society and enforced by international monitors. Reforms should include firing human rights abusers and drug traffickers, establishing an independent authority to investigate citizen complaints and requiring officials to live in the districts they are responsible for (fewer than half do).