Commander of U.S. Central Command Gen. David H. Petraeus, U.S. Army, talks with members of Combined Joint Task Force - 101 at Combat Outpost Marghah, Afghanistan, on Nov. 6, 2008. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Bradley A. Lail, U.S. Air Force. (Released)From Captain's Journal:
Apparently the U.S. - and by this we mean officers who weren’t part of the campaign for Anbar - is trying to imitate the Anbar awakening in Afghanistan.
The US yesterday outlined a controversial plan to organise local militias in Afghanistan to contain the growing strength of the Taliban, echoing tactics used by American commanders in Iraq.
The programme is formally an Afghan government project with UN and US backing, but much of the impetus is believed to have come from US military commanders hoping to replicate the Sons of Iraq militias - American-backed Sunni groups which have helped combat al-Qaida and Iraqi insurgents. The architect of that initiative, General David Petraeus, is now head of Central Command, and running the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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My Comment: The Captain is absolutely right in his analysis of why Anbar was a success, and why Afghanistan will not be a success. I could not have said the same thing as well as he has. Read it completely .... it explains accurately why the American/NATO surge will ultimately fail in Afghanistan.