“What’s the purpose in Afghanistan? Well, it’s not to defeat Al-Qaeda because they’re largely not there,” said retired General Wesley Clark Tuesday. “It seems to me that what we seek there is to prevent the emergence of a terrorist state that would physically harbor Al-Qaeda and use it’s diplomatic and legal authorities as weapons against the very international system of which it’s a member.” (0:33)

 

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Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Scholar Gilles Dorronsoro says Monday that the United States needs to show Pakistan that the U.S. has control in Afghanistan. He suggested the U.S. exercise that control by leaving Afghanistan self-sufficient, and within the next few years. (0:33)

 

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Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

The average Pakistani citizen has little to almost no understanding of the al-Qaida network or the Afghan Taliban organization, according to Georgetown University School of Foreign Service Professor Christine Fair.

“Many Pakistanis don’t know what al-Qaida is…Sure enough we went around a room and asked if people knew al-Qaida: Few knew,” said Fair of a survey she conducted in Pakistan earlier this year.

According to Fair, one woman that openly responded to the survey correlated the Taliban and al-Qaida with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Elisa Massimino CEO and Executive Director of Human Rights First explains the policy damage caused by Guantanamo Bay and its international effect on radicals like Al Qaeda. (0:36)

 

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By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.)
Photo by Michael Ruhl

In the next 5 years, the Pakistani infrastructure will be fortified by almost $10 billion American dollars, if Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) have anything to say about it. The aptly titled Kerry-Lugar Bill will provided money for rebuilding the lives of civilians in war torn Pakistan.

Both Kerry and Lugar said that most of the money that has been funneled into Pakistan in the past few years has gone towards security. The aim of this bill is to shift the balance, to place more of an emphasis on infrastructure.

The Senators want to use the money for building schools, improving health care, building bridges, water projects, and other elements of infrastructure. Kerry said that the target projects are “things that would improve life and give people a sense of progress” to civilians.

The money would also be used for ensuring an independent media, expanding human rights and the rule of law, expanding transparency in government, rooting out political corruption and countering the drug trade.

Additionally military funding would be conditioned upon several things, including Pakistani security forces preventing al Qaeda and Taliban forces from operating in Pakistan. The military forces would not be able to interfere in politics or in the judicial process, according to the provisions of the bill.

The legislation bill would give $1.5 billion each year from FY 2009-2013, and would recommend similar amounts of money over the subsequent five years. There would be required benchmarks to measuring how effective the funding is, and the President will have to submit semi-annual reports to Congress about progress made.

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

General David Petraeus
Photo By Michael Ruhl

According to General David Petraeus, an educated American soldier that can bridge the cultural divide with the Muslim world can more effectively fight the War on Terror. This soldier would understand the social context they are operating within, and would understand the broad implications and consequences of military action.

General Petraeus, Commander of U.S. Central Command, discussed U.S. military strategy in the Middle East and South Asia while testifying today before Congress.

“While additional military forces clearly are necessary (in Afghanistan), they will not by themselves be sufficient to achieve our objective,” said the General. America’s objective, he said, is to make sure extremists do not have a haven from which to plan and execute another attack on the level of the 9-11 attacks.

A smarter military can better understand the necessary social infrastructure to facilitate lasting peace within a region. This combined with intelligent military action, international cooperation, the building of infrastructure and a swath of other initiatives will help America secure the region, according to Petraeus. “You cannot kill or capture your way out of an industrial strength insurgency,” the General said.

“We also need to expand just the basic knowledge of Afghanistan among our forces,” Petraeus said. He continued that greater knowledge will lead to a “nuanced and granular understanding” that will enable the Army to undertake the kind of sophisticated reconciliation processes in Afghanistan that were important in Iraq.

Congressman Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) agreed that soldiers should be educated, and brought attention to the U.S. Army’s Homestead Program. Dicks said this program involves an Officer taking a year off from active service to live in a country, learn the language, and understand the culture. Retired Army General John Abizaid did a program similar to this. Abizaid was former Commander of U.S. Central Command.

The U.S. Army could not be reached for comment on the current funding of the program, but Dicks expressed concern on the small number of individuals enrolled in it.

The necessary approach to success involves placing security in the hands of the Afghans, Petraeus said, which means helping them collectively realize that the biggest security threat in the region comes from dissident extremist elements within the country, most notably Al-Qaeda. He emphasized that America’s presence in Afghanistan is not permanent, and that Afghanistan’s government and economy must be encouraged by its citizens.

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

General David Petraeus says before Congress that it is important for soldiers to have an expanded understanding of Afghanistan, so that the army can function better as a whole. (01:18)

 

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Talk Radio News Service interviews Fred Lucas, a staff writer of CNS News at the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. Lucas talks about Guantanamo Bay and the Republican stance on the issue. Lucas also talks about the closure of Guantanamo Bay and how it may possibly serve as a recruiting tool for Al-Qaeda. (05:53)

 

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By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

While testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Retired Lt. General David Barno said that in his opinion the Afghan war at the beginning of 2009 was “drifting towards failure”, and that a change in strategy is necessary. He defined success for the United States in 5 ways. First, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda being defeated in the region and denied usable sanctuary, preventing them from engaging in future attacks on the United States and its allies. Secondly, Pakistan would become a long term ally of the United States, and no longer would serve as a terrorist base. Next, success for NATO is important to the US mission, as is establishing a stable and sustainable Afghan government which is legitimate in the eyes of its people and can govern and control its territory. Finally, the people in this region should be confident in U.S. as a friend in helping them combat extremism. (2:12)

 

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Former Chief Investigator (Baghdad) of the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity Salam Adhoob discusses how certain members of the Iraqi government are involved in varying degrees of corruption, including funding al-Qaeda in Iraq (0:38).

 

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