negotiating with insurgents?

[Adrienne]

The NPR item today looks at the problems of applying the strategy we used in Iraq to Afghanistan. I was wondering if others agree with the statement that there are no deals that can be worked out with insurgents in Afghanistan? I don't know the situation that well so I'm really interested in others' perspectives.

Also, not following the logic that the sectarian violence was so bad in Iraq that everyone just wanted order (agree), but in Afghanistan the violence is so bad that everyone has just stopped caring? 2006 in Iraq was an absolute bloodbath, and the population was hopeless about the possibilty that things could get better. But that didn't stop them from establishing Sons of Iraq (with our backing), neighborhood watches, and other mechanisms to bring about some degree of order. Why wouldn't the Afghanis also try to seek some kind of order/stability if given the opportunity/our support?

In Afghanistan War Report, Echoes Of Iraq
by Kevin Whitelaw

David Gilkey/NPRGen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, has submitted a grim report to the Obama administration that warns of failure without additional U.S. troops and a change in strategy.

It is hard to ignore the echoes of another recent war when reading Gen. Stanley McChrystal's leaked report that warns about looming failure Afghanistan without additional U.S. troops.

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan never refers explicitly to the U.S. experience in Iraq (other than to note the ongoing drawdown in U.S. forces), but that conflict clearly underlies his grim analysis and some of key counterinsurgency lessons that he draws upon.

Military officials have been signaling for weeks that more troops are necessary to quell the Taliban insurgency and establish security in Afghanistan. McChrystal's confidential report to the Pentagon and the administration was leaked to The Washington Post this week, offering insight into the military's assessment of the war and the challenges facing President Obama.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=113060662