Afghanistan: Are We Doing What We Need To Do To Win?
Abstract
The international community, as a whole, works to ensure that Afghanistan is no longer a safe haven for extremists and terrorist organizations. Capable and sustainable governance of Afghanistan by Afghans is the common agreed upon end state, but also serves as the last common benchmark guiding efforts for U.S. and NATO forces. This paper will analyze the approach to reconstruction and development (R&D) in Afghanistan from an operational perspective. R&D, as opposed to the U.S. term Stability and Reconstruction (S&R), will be used in this analysis as it may be more appropriate considering NATO's stated objective of "helping the government of Afghanistan extend its authority," rather than simply secure and rebuild. The thesis is that NATO is currently not acting in an effective manner from a theater strategic and operational perspective to meet theater strategic and operational objectives. This paper will address the operational environment, the plan guiding R&D, U.S. and ISAF operations, then discuss an alternative perspective on what needs to happen in Afghanistan to achieve unity of effort in reconstruction and development operations and close with some recommendations on practical application of changes.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 23, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA484295
Entities
People
- J. J. Loschinskey
Organizations
- Naval War College