Senate Hearing Cautions Administration on Timelines and Taliban Reconciliation
Lisa Curtis /
“Can we improve the Afghanistan Government? Maybe. Can we do it by July 2011? No.”
This statement came from Dr. David Kilcullen, an expert in counterinsurgency and former advisor to General Petraeus, during rigorous questioning at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) hearing last week titled, “Perspectives on Reconciliation Options in Afghanistan.” Along with Kilcullen, the two other expert witnesses—Ryan Crocker, former Ambassador to Iraq and Pakistan, and Ms. Zainab Salbi, founder and CEO of Women for Women International—echoed concerns about the Obama Administration’s insistence on setting a deadline for the beginning of a U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The testimonies by the expert witnesses recommended an all-inclusive strategy toward Afghanistan to win the hearts and minds of the people, fight from a position of strength, assure the civilian population of U.S. long-term commitment, and create an “Afghanistan Reconciliation Committee” in which senior Afghan leaders could come together and focus on realistic and pragmatic steps toward reconciliation in Afghanistan. (more…)