| Publication |
2010.
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| Summary/Abstract |
FOR THE LAST FEW DAYS following the "Rolling Stones" interview by Gen. McChrystal and President Obama's decision to replace him with Gen. Petraeus there has been a great deal of attention paid to the current situation in Afghanistan and what the change in command will portend for the strategy that Gen McChrystal had devised to achieve President Obama's goal of disrupting, dismantling and defeating the Al-Qaeda network and ensuring that Afghanistan did not again become a safe haven for terrorists intent on attacking the United States and its allies. By and large, the comments have welcomed the Petraeus appointment as the best option available but they also suggest whatever Gen. McChrystal's faults the military at least had unity of command while the U.S. civilian team was not working together smoothly, that little progress had been made in improving the quality of governance in Afghanistan and therefore that the United States is losing the war in Afghanistan. More and more these reports and commentaries suggest that the American will to continue in Afghanistan is wilting partly because public opinion is no longer willing to support it and partly because the leaders too believe that this has become an unwinnable war.
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