Can President Obama’s New Afghanistan Strategy Succeed?
NEW YORK, December 8, 2009 – President Barack Obama’s Afghan strategy, which includes the deployment of 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan over the next six months, will not succeed unless the issues of corruption in Afghanistan and the legitimacy of the Afghan government are addressed, according to experts. “For the Obama strategy to succeed, you need a credible, local partner,” said Peter Galbraith, former Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to Afghanistan, at a discussion at the Asia Society. “You need a government that can provide public services, honest administration, and win the confidence of the people. That doesn’t exist.” He stressed that the American goal of “disrupting, dismantling and defeating Al Qaeda” is not achievable in Afghanistan without having the Afghan goal of a peaceful, stable country. According to Amin Tarzi, director of Middle East Studies at the Marine Corps University, the issue of legitimacy of the Afghan government
