Petraeus and Afghanistan - Westmoreland and Vietnam

General David Petraeus, in charge of American forces in Afghanistan, is reporting to Congress today.

Gen. Petraeus will say that the Taliban’s momentum has been halted and that it is now possible to begin turning over the security function to Afghan troops. He will say that he can begin the start of the pull-out of American troops, insisted upon by President Obama in return for his agreement to the Iraq-like surge that has left Afghanistan with what Petraeus describes as “fragile and reversible” stability progress.

The situation on the ground makes the General sure that American troop withdrawals can start as promised to the President, even while forging a longer-term security pact with the Karzai government.

I would like to add just a few details:

- Iran is still supplying and training the Afghanistan Taliban.

- Pakistan, Afghanistan’s neighbor sharing a long common frontier, is still unwilling to commit to preventing the flow of arms and men from Pakistan into Afghanistan that would choke the Taliban effectively.

- The tribal people of Afghanistan are still living with the Taliban in their midst, and know that no one, not the Americans or anyone else, can help them to escape from their clutch, which includes terrorizing villages and using them as bases for caches of arms and as launch pads for assault on US troops trying to stabilize the tribal situation. 

- America is being asked by General Petraeus to believe that its military can successfully “partner” with the Karzai government, whose only real competence seems to be corruption and appeasement of the Taliban.

- After a winter of eliminating the Taliban from various areas of the country, the US is bracing for a Taliban spring offensive.

Let me be clear. I hope General Petraeus is 100% right in his judgment.

I hope he can deliver on his promises.

I hope the US troop withdrawal will not unleash on the people of Afghanistan yet another reign of Taliban terror.

I hope that President Obama’s plan was the right one and that America can successfully withdraw, train and equip Afghan troops, find a way to eliminate corruption from the Karzai clique, and partner with Karzai to secure the future of Afghanistan.

But, it is not easy to abandon every bit of logic required to find comfort in General Petraeus’ words and plans, especially when his biggest complaint is that Congress is not supplying enough money for the effort.

America has been here before. It was called Vietnam.