Word: afghanistans
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...struggle to achieve such stability will persist long after the election itself. Afghanistan's current President, Hamid Karzai, was once a darling of Washington but has proved feckless. His misrule has contributed greatly to the Taliban revival that the U.S. and its allies are now trying to quell. There's not much reason to hope that a re-elected Karzai will get significantly better. The White House's best bet will be to strengthen the instruments of governance so that they carry clout even in timorous hands. The good news is that Afghanistan's leaders, who desperately need American arms...
American politicians have a tendency to attach too much hope to elections as a salvation for long-oppressed peoples. But we've learned in Iraq that a vote can't deliver citizens from harm if it doesn't also deliver good government. Getting the winners of Afghanistan's election to rule well will be the Obama Administration's main challenge...
Monday marks the end of August, a month with both good and bad news out of Afghanistan - and the approach of a key turning point. Civilian casualties caused by Western attacks have fallen dramatically under a new edict from General Stanley McChrystal barring air strikes that risk innocent deaths (19 killed since July 1, down from 151 in the same period of 2008). That's designed to show the Afghan people that the U.S. military is a force for good in their country. But at the same time, U.S. troop deaths reached 45 in August, making it the deadliest month...
...Both elements signal the arrival of a pivot point in Afghanistan, and one that is looming in Washington. McChrystal, now shepherding the final 6,000 U.S. troops into the country to join the 62,000 already there, knows he needs even more forces to prevail. He's expected to request them sometime before the war's eighth birthday on Oct. 7. That prospect is being viewed coolly inside the Pentagon. But President Obama - who has declared the Afghan conflict his top national-security priority - isn't expected to refuse his handpicked commander's initial request for reinforcements, probably...
...Monday, McChrystal turned his official review of the war over to his superior, General David Petraeus, chief of U.S. Central Command. "The situation in Afghanistan is serious, but success is achievable and demands a revised implementation strategy, commitment and resolve, and increased unity of effort," McChrystal said in a statement announcing he had finished his survey. While the report doesn't recommend additional troops, Pentagon officials expect it to form the foundation for such a request in coming weeks...