Carnegie Paper on Afghanistan the Impossible Transition

DJ COMMENT: Gilles Dorronsoro argues that US COIN Strategy is failing and politically it is alienating negotiating partners. The big question is, what is the right strategy. I believe it is to build ink spots of success in the north and support them to grow rapidly. This will give the Afghans at least some sucess stories and something to fight for. The post transition economy is the elephant in the room which is only just being addressed so let's see what ideas the US comes up with.

Gilles Dorronsoro June 2011
http://carnegieendowment.org/2011/06/15/afghanistan-impossible-transition/1yp
A combination of two critical problems threatens to undermine the mission of the United States–led coalition in Afghanistan: the failure of the counterinsurgency strategy and a disconnect between political objectives and military operations. If anything, the current strategy is making a political solution less likely, notably because it is antagonizing Pakistan without containing the rise of the armed opposition. That has put the coalition in a paradoxical situation, in which it is being weakened militarily by a non-negotiated and inevitable withdrawal while at the same time alienating potential negotiating partners