Ok, I about fell off my chair at General Barno's top item of "Finish the Fight." He could have just as well labeled this "Protect my Legacy."
Anyone who understands insurgency can look at what LTG Barno set in motion during his tenure in Afghanistan as the planting of the seeds and the fertilization of the growing insurgnency that is being harvested today. I'd toss Amb Eikenberry in there with him. Well intended? Undoubtedly, but the path to hell is paved with good intentions. There was little in the way of insurgency for several years following the flip between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. But once we made it clear that we were going not only allow, but enable and support the Northern Alliance in creating a government designed to deny the entire segment of society that the Taliban drew their power from, it was game on. This is the problem with COIN doctirne that is premised in placing and sustaining a particular government in power over the express will of the affected poplace; or that is designed to oppress some significant segment of the populace.
I'll go on an read his remaining 9 points, but for my money as an operator, as a strategist, as a student and practitioner of insurgency/UW/FID/COIN, if one is looking to pin the tail on the donkey for the current violence in Afghanistan, that donkey is LTG Barno. Frankly I am surprised that CNAS brought him on in his current capacity, as it reflects upon the credibility of that entire organization in a manner that overshadows some of their other efforts.
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