No doubt Gen. John Allen, the senior U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, will receive criticism for being a “politically correct” general after he fired Maj. Gen. Peter Fuller, deputy commander of the NATO training command, for making belittling comments about senior Afghan leaders. Fuller was quoted in an interview as saying that Karzai and other top Afghans are “isolated from reality.” That may be true; certainly it is a sentiment widely shared by Westerners who have to deal with them. But it’s not helpful to say so publicly. After all, our success in Afghanistan depends on standing up durable Afghan institutions, and that requires us to work with the leaders of those institutions.
There are many issues on which we must press the Afghans to take steps they would rather not take, and it is important that an atmosphere of trust and confidence be established where our representatives can exert maximum leverage. Fuller’s comments undermine the kind of trust needed to accomplish our mission, so Allen was right to relieve him. If only Afghan leaders held their subordinates similarly accountable for far more egregious missteps!
I think that the comments probably reflect reality. Somehow I see Afghanistan ending badly based upon other recent conflicts. American voters really don't want to be involved in protracted wars overseas. Neither do other western nations. The only successful model was the British war in Malaya where they had fortified hamlets. I don't know if that would work in Afghanistan but I don't see anything else working.
"Fuller’s comments undermine the kind of trust needed to accomplish our mission…." n nWill the Commander in Chief provide the opportunity for us to "accomplish our mission?" He didn't didn't seem too concerned about accomplishing our mission in Iraq.
Seriously, undermining the trust of the Afghans? For centuries, these tribes operated with a smile and a garotte. n nGen. Fuller is a guy who spent a career saying the right things and successfully navigating the hierarchy. Things must be infuriatingly bad for him to speak the bald truth about our so-called allies. n nA so for his service in outing a hollow policy of failed nation building, Gen. Fuller
It's not General Fullers comments that has eroded confidence. The American people have a Constitutional right to know the truth about the lives and treasure that could very well be for the lost cause of Afghanistan.