President Obama is expected to announce his strategy for Afghanistan before the end of the month, after a fairly secretive, two-month review by senior civilian and military officials, and consultation with allies. But elements of the strategy have begun to emerge in comments by officials involved in, or familiar with, the process. The strategy is expected to lead international efforts in Afghanistan for years to come. | And surprise, it has a lot of similarities to the Bush plan ... |
Secretary Gates spoke of identifying short-to-medium-term goals for Afghanistan - things that can be achieved in three to five years. "We need to have goals, at least in the near to mid-term, that are achievable," he said. "And where there are some benchmarks where we can measure whether we're actually making progress in getting to a better place in Afghanistan, in terms of security, in terms of the credibility of the government and so on."