Anthony Cordesman opens his op-ed in today’s Washington Post:
Cordesman is, in fact, far more optimistic about the situation in Iraq, where he says “al-Qaeda is clearly losing in every province,” than Afghanistan, where “the Taliban is sharply expanding its support areas as well as its political and economic influence.” Part of the blame for this backsliding in Afghanistan surely rests with our NATO allies, who, with a few notable exceptions, have failed to commit the necessary resources to that fight. But the failure is also one of multilateralism. As we’ve seen in Iraq over the last year, effective counterinsurgency requires unity of effort and unity of command. Victory in Afghanistan will require more troops, more resources, and a commander like Petraeus who can direct the full weight of Coalition forces where they are needed most. Cordesman concludes:
John McCain ought to steal that line for his stump speech.
