Reed acknowledges split
Posted: Thursday, November 12, 2009 3:12 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Andrea Mitchell
From NBC’s Andrea Mitchell
Fresh from a meeting at the Pentagon this morning, Armed Services Committee member and West Point graduate Sen. Jack Reed acknowledged that Ambassador (and Retired General) Eikenberry's warnings are in conflict with Gen. McChrstyal's recommendations.
In other words, the President's handpicked top military man in the war zone is now being contradicted by the president's top diplomat in the country. The two men, in fact, have disagreed in the past when McChrystal reported to Eikenberry. Clearly, say most experts, this is not a sustainable situation.
In an interview at the Newseum at a conference hosted by Bloomberg News, Reed said the fact that two experienced military men reached different conclusions makes the President's job difficult, because if Afghanistan (Karzai) can’t provide local governance, then our additional troop deployments won’t be decisive.
Eikenberry was the personal choice of Richard Holbrooke, special representative for the region, and is highly valued at the State Department. The military is reportedly very unhappy that he is contradicting their recommendations -- in cables that have now gone public.
Senior officials indicate that the ambassador's post-election warnings about Karzai's ability to deliver -- and clean up corruption -- are playing into the president's request for more fine-tuning on the options.
Reed indicated that redeploying resources outside of Karzai's control to provincial leaders (war lords) is as important as deciding on overall troop levels.
Partial transcript follows:
ANDREA: AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY- KARL EIKENBERY - RETIRED GENERAL, COMMANDER OF THE FORCES THERE HAS WRITTEN THESE CABLES ADVISING THE PRESIDENT THAT THERE IS NO REAL PROSPECT THAT PRESIDENT KARZAI AND THE AFGHAN TROOPS CAN RISE TO THIS. THAT THE PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN WOULD NOT ALLOW THE KIND OF TRAINING AND GRADUAL TAKEOVER THAT WE WOULD NEED TO ENSURE THIS ISNT JUST A BOTTOMLESS PIT
REED: KARL IS A VERY TALENTED AND EXPERIENCED PERSON. HE COMMANDED OUR FORCES THERE FOR SEVERAL YEARS, HE LED TRAINING THERE- HE IS SOMEONE THAT I HAVE KNOWN FOR YEARS AND I RESPECT IMMENSELY. I THINK HE IS POINTING OUT WHAT THE PRESIDENT ALREADY UNDERSTOOD THAT A LARGE PART OF THESE OPERATIONS IS LOCAL GOVERNANCE (07) AND IF WE SUPPLY MORE TROOPS AND THEY DONT SUPPLY LOCAL GOVERNANCE THEN OUR EFFORTS WONT BE DECISIVE. IT MIGHT BUY SOME MORE TIME
EVEN IF PRESIDENT KARZAI WAS ENTHUSIASTIC ETC, THE REALITY IS BEYOND KABUL THERE IS VERY LITTLE GOVERNMENT CAPACITY ANYWHERE.
AND AS WE PURSUE PARTICULARLY THIS COUNTER-INSURGENCY PROGRAM WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO AT LEAST FOR A PERIOD OF TIME SORT OF PUT TOGETHER A SURROGATE OPERATION IN TERMS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ETC.
ANDREA: IF YOU ACCEPT GENERAL- AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY'S JUDGMENTS ON THIS WHICH WOULD LEAN TOWARD THE LOW END OF DEPLOYMENTS- YOU ARE REJECTING GENERAL MCCHRYSTAL'S COUNTERINSURGENCY PLAN.
REED: WELL I THINK WHAT YOU ARE DOING FIRST OF ALL IS RECOGNIZING HERE ARE TWO EXPERIENCED MILITARY OFFICERS DEEPLY INVOLVED IN THE HISTORY AND RECENT EXPERIENCE OF AFGHANISTAN EACH REACHING BASED UPON THEIR ANALYSIS- NOT DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED-
MITCHELL: BUT VERY DIFFERENT CONCLUSIONS?
REED: AND THIS IS WHAT MAKES THE PRESIDENT'S JOB VERY DIFFICULT. BECAUSE HE IS THE ONLY ONE AND HIS ADVISORS THAT HAVE TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION NOT JUST MILITARY STRATEGY TECHNIQUES BUT THIS ISSUE OF WILL THEIR BE AN EFFECTIVE AFGHANI GOVERNMENT? ITS VERY CHALLENGING AND THATS WHAT THE PRESIDENT IS WEIGHING NOW AND THAT'S WHY I THINK THIS CAREFUL DELIBERATION IS CRITICAL.
