NATO Strategy in Afghanistan: A New Way Forward
Printable Version
After a decade of war, the democracies of NATO
need a realistic and sustainable strategy which
will close the gap between stated goals and
achievable ends. The Obama Administration's
discrete ends of defeating al Qaeda have become
disjointed with ways and means. Leaders of NATO
member states must act now or lose the
confidence of their people and watch momentum
grow for a "rush to the exits" that could end
in a Western defeat, victory for the Taliban,
and new life for Al Qaeda.
The
Center for National Policy proposes a new way
forward, to refocus NATO on core interests:
containing
transnational threats and sufficient regional
stability.
This strategy
calls for an accelerated and substantive
transition that puts the Afghan government and
security forces in the lead across the country
and leaves approximately 30,000 NATO
and partnered troops in the country by April 2013
under a special operations command
structure. It also calls for a bolstered United
Nations role in governance and
development programs.
.
