Over on Small Wars Journal this morning, AfPak vet Paul Overby is asking tough questions about the way forward in Afghanistan:
In the challenge of extricating ourselves from the war in Afghanistan, the most critical element is the actual and emotional heart of the opposition we are facing–the Taliban. This war which is taking an American life every day and costing $2 billion a month is not, in all likelihood, militarily winnable. Though they are the reason we went to Afghanistan in the first place, al Qaeda is now marginal…The safe haven happened to be provided by the Taliban, but the real villains were AQ. But now, ironically, it is the Taliban we are expending most of our energy fighting…Popular (or even semi-popular) insurgencies have commonly resisted attempts by foreign armies to break them, and Afghanistan is, I take it, another such case.
May be better to read tonight with a stiff Scotch, rather than this morning with your coffee.