Description

Objectives in Afghanistan must be reconciled with the resources available to pursue them.
The mere presence of foreign soldiers fighting a war in Afghanistan is probably the single most important factor in the resurgence of the Taliban.
The best way to weaken, and perhaps divide, the armed opposition is to reduce military confrontations.
The main policy objective should be to leave an Afghan government that is able to survive a U.S. withdrawal.
Strategy should differentiate three areas and allocate resources accordingly: strategic cities and transportation routes that must be under total Afghan/alliance control; buffers around strategic areas, where NATO and the Afghan army would focus their struggle against insurgents; and opposition territory, where NATO and Afghan forces would not expend effort or resources.
Withdrawal will allow the United States to focus on the central security problem in the region: al-Qaeda and the instability in Pakistan.