Mullen: 2 years to turn tide in Afghanistan

[BlueJessamine]

Source: Honolulu Advertiser

WASHINGTON — The nation's top military officer warned Monday that the deaths of Afghan civilians caught up in U.S. combat operations could cripple President Barack Obama's revamped strategy for the seven-year-old war. "I believe that each time we do that, we put our strategy in jeopardy," Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said. "We cannot succeed ... in Afghanistan by killing Afghan civilians."

Mullen said additional forces and new tactics can help the United States turn a discouraging tide in Afghanistan. He said he was hopeful that "in the next 12- to 24 months, that we can stem the trends which have been going very badly in Afghanistan the last three years."

But speaking at the Brookings Institution, Mullen sounded frustrated that as the first of 21,000 U.S. reinforcements arrive, Taliban insurgents are having a seemingly easy time using America's military prowess against it.

Mullen pointed to this month's disputed U.S. airstrikes in Farah province, in which women and children were apparently among dozens of civilians killed. The United States says the Taliban is responsible for at least some of the deaths, but Mullen didn't spend much time defending U.S. actions.



Read more: http://content.usatoday.net/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=honoluluadvertiser&sParam=30783997.story

[hobbit709]

1. "We're turning the corner"

Where have I heard THAT before?

[madrchsod]

3. "1,2,3 what are we fighting for......."

[madrchsod]

2. obama`s veitnam...the folly of the christan world

[bemildred]

4. Just a few more Friedman Units. nt

[mbperrin]

5. Why can we not learn from our own history? When people are defending their homes,

they tend to be serious about it.

http://www.nps.gov/revwar/revolution_day_by_day/1781_main.html
March 15, 1781
Costly British victory at Guilford Courthouse
British troops win a costly victory over Continentals and militia at Guilford Courthouse, N.C. The battle is part of General Nathanael Greene's strategy of engaging the British on ground of his choosing. Without winning a single clear-cut victory, he will succeed in wearing down the British army through hit-and-run tactics and set-piece battles.