Greg Bruno
President
Counterinsurgency is losing support among troops for its overly restrictive rules of engagement and open-ended commitments.
Opponents of the current approach point to a string of recent strategic missteps. In the southern city of Marjah, casualties continue to mount in an offensive that was expected to swiftly rout Taliban fighters. The tough slog in Marjah in turn forced a delay in the launch of a planned
As Afghan and Western support for the American-led war effort falters, the Obama administration and its military leaders themselves have looked to refocus attention on efforts to improve
Instead of a crushing military push, commanders say the goal in
Measuring success in America's longest war will therefore take more time, analysts say. Biddle, who served as an adviser to General McChrystal, says it's hard to know if current approaches are succeeding. "We're at one of those moments where it's very hard to tell whether things are going well or badly. Counterinsurgency always has this 'darkest before the dawn' quality." Yet
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