Big Media Brian

by: Richard Allen Smith

Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 11:12:27 AM EST


Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran, and VoteVets.org Vice Chairman and Legislative Director Brian McGough, quoted on Afghanistan in Voice of America:

But more troops alone will not secure Afghanistan, says retired Staff Sergeant Brian McGough.

"So, we have the troops that we can send. We just have to do it smart, and we just can't send troops and troops and troops and troops. And eventually we are going to have to try to figure out what the end goal is. What is the goal in Afghanistan and how do we get there?" he asked.

McGough was wounded in a roadside bombing in Iraq in 2003 and is now with a group called VoteVets.org.

It's always good to see VoteVets.org in press coverage. However, and I'm not speaking on Brian's behalf here (maybe he'll grace us with his presence if he can dodge the paparazzi), but it seems like VOA over simplified the substance of what I think he was trying to say.

What are the resources needed to achieve our goals in Afghanistan? Do we really need 30,000 or 40,000 more troops? This isn't a rhetorical question. I mostly agree with what this Administration has done on Afghanistan and agree with General Petraeus that the time the President is taking to decided on additional troops is well spent. The problem is that a clear goal for Afghanistan, a description of what "mission accomplished will look like", has not yet been articulated. This makes it difficult to evaluate proposed strategy or debate an appropriate troop level.  Regardless, I think it is clear that there is no strategy that could possibly be successful that includes only the addition of more troops.  Support for development and governments, especially local governments, must also be deployed in proportional numbers.  Without such support, the mission will surely fail. This, I think, was Brian's point that was probably shaved down to save word space.
Richard Allen Smith :: Big Media Brian
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