TPM:The (Coming) Surge In Afghanistan: Brought To You By Kim And Fred Kagan?

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http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/the_coming_surge_in_afghanistan_brought_to_you_by.php

Frederick Kagan, the neoconservative think-tanker best known as the architect of the surge in Iraq, continues to have access to Gen. Stanley McChrystal as an adviser after serving as part of a team producing the recent assessment of the Afghan war, a spokesman for the general tells us.

It had been reported that Kagan and his wife, military historian Kimberly Kagan, were part of the group that advised McChrystal on the high-profile assessment that warns of "mission failure" if more troops are not sent. But it wasn't previously known that Kagan's work with McChrystal extended beyond the review.

It's striking that Kagan, who writes for the Weekly Standard, guest blogs at National Review, and advised the Bush Administration on Iraq, is now advising President Obama's top commander in Afghanistan.

Some of the advisers who worked on the assessment "including the Kagans occasionally exchange correspondence with General McChrystal, who appreciates a diversity of views on the issues he confronts in Afghanistan," McChrystal spokesman Tadd Sholtis told TPMmuckraker in an e-mail.