Analysis & Transcript: Clinton and Gates on “What to Do in Afghanistan-Pakistan?” (and Iran)

Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis

The writing of US military escalation in Afghanistan is on the wall: President Obama has told Congressmen (with his advisors ensuring that the message was featured) that there will be no troop reductions. With that floor in place, the question is now how high the ceiling for the increase in forces. Meanwhile, Obama officials like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have all but given up on the message of non-military strategy: in the face of financial mismanagement, problems with logistics, and the ill-fated Presidential election, they emphasise Security, Security, Security.

This is the context for the latest article from Jean Mackenzie of Global Post on the complications of US strategy and programmes: “Are Pentagon contracts funding the Taliban?”

KABUL — It seemed like such a good idea at the time.

At a staff meeting in 2006, Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, who was then commander of Combined Forces Afghanistan, took a sip of bottled water.

Then he looked at the label of one of the Western companies that were being paid millions of dollars a year to ship bottled water by the container load into Afghanistan.

And Eikenberry, who is now the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, said, “There must be a way of producing bottled water in Afghanistan.”

Read the rest of this entry »