How does the military define “success” in Afghanistan?
According to Gen. McChrystal’s review, success of the mission is defined by the following three objectives: “ISAF conducts operations in Afghanistan to 1) reduce the capability and will of the insurgency, 2) support the growth and capability of the Afghan National Security Forces, and 3) facilitate improvements in governance and socio-economic development, in order to provide a secure environment for sustainable stability that is observable to the population.” What are the key strategies being considered now? The President is now widely believed to be considering one of three strategies: counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, or training Afghanistan Security Forces (ANSF). A counterinsurgency approach, advocated by Gen. McChrystal, hinges on winning the support of the Afghan population through greater troop numbers in order to improve Afghan governance, with hopes that a stable Afghanistan would emerge. A narrower counter-terrorism approach would aim to disrupt and dismantle Al Qaeda in
