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| Afghanistan |
| Allen: U.S. to stay the course in Afghanistan |
| 2012-03-20 |
| The U.S. must stick to its strategy in Afghanistan, including the planned withdrawal calendar, over the next several months despite recent setbacks that have tested America’s relations with the Afghans, the top U.S. commander for the war is telling Congress. Gen. John Allen is heading to Capitol Hill Tuesday for the first time since the Koran burnings and last week’s shooting spree by a U.S. soldier inflamed anti-American sentiment in Afghanistan. The incidents spawned attacks against U.S. forces and prompted Afghan leaders to demand that American troops pull out of local villages and rural areas. The upheaval has fueled Congressional opposition to the war, insuring that Allen will face lawmakers who are bitterly divided and increasingly skeptical of the administration’s strategy. In frank testimony prepared for delivery to the House Armed Services Committee Tuesday, Allen argues that while the last few months “have been trying,” the coalition and its Afghan allies have made progress and degraded the insurgency. “This campaign has been long. It has been difficult, and it has been costly. There have been setbacks, to be sure, we’re experiencing them now, and there will be more setbacks ahead,” Allen says. “I wish I could tell you that this war was simple, and that progress could be easily measured. But that’s not the way of counterinsurgencies.” |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #1 Allen has repor told the US Congress that formal troop pullout plans beyond September 2012 are "not final". * ION DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > STORIED [US] ARMY UNIT [Big Red One = 1st INF DIV] MOVING INTO AFGHANISTAN'S EAST, to replace the First Cav Div. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-03-20 21:44 |