home > by publication type > podcasts > A Commander's View of Stability in Afghanistan
Email
| Interviewee: | Col. Martin P. Schweitzer, Chief, U.S. Army Senate Liaison Division, and Former Commander, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division |
|---|---|
| Interviewer: | Greg Bruno, Staff Writer, CFR.org |
February 19, 2009
As the U.S. government calibrates its new strategy in Afghanistan, advice is pouring in. President Obama has announced plans to send as many as 17,000 additional U.S. soldiers and marines to the fight, and his administration is conducting a comprehensive review of policies governing the U.S. approach. But in Afghanistan, a dynamic and complex country, strategy may best be formulated on the ground, where military commanders and Afghan leaders are cooperating on a daily basis.
Col. Martin P. Schweitzer, who was responsible for security operations in eastern Afghanistan from January 2007 to April 2008, says the local Afghan leaders he has worked with in Khost Province and elsewhere are far more capable than many Western pundits suggest. "As each year goes on, more is required and expected, and so I think there is a higher demand on the governmental institutions, governmental infrastructure," he says. And in most regions, the colonel notes, Afghan leaders at the provincial and district levels are performing well.
Yet Schweitzer says a host of problems continue to threaten progress, from endemic corruption to an entrenched drug trade. Meeting those challenges will require continued and lasting U.S. commitment. The extra troops pledged by Obama are only a part of the solution, he says. "Don't look at that as they're going in there to conduct kinetic full-scale operations. Most of the activities that they are going to be doing will be to establish and create capacity within the Afghan security forces; will be to establish and create capacity within local governorates at the district level." And Schweitzer says nonmilitary personnel from the U.S. Department of State, USAID, and even foreign governments will be an important piece of any new U.S. strategy.
Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.
I understand that I may access this podcast solely for my personal use. Any other use of the file and its content, including display, distribution, reproduction, or alteration in any form for any purpose, whether commercial, noncommercial, educational, or promotional, is expressly prohibited without the written permission of the copyright owner, the Council on Foreign Relations. For more information, write webmaster@cfr.org.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1.212.434.9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.