Money quote(s):
"One side is not happy with any substantial withdrawal from Afghanistan, the other side is not happy that it's not fast nor substantial enough. When 33,000 troops come home by next summer, we will still have some 70,000 troops in that war zone not counting the civilians."
Remember: this is not the "war of choice." This one had to be fought. Whether we should still be fighting it is a very good question, and proceeds directly from one's vision for a post-war Afghanistan. If you follow the Pottery Barn model of postwar reconstruction, then trying to turn Afghanistan into Switzerland makes a lot of sense.
"I expect that the call for more diplomats and civilians to go to Afghanistan will follow whatever size, shape or form the military drawdown in that country will take shape."
I'm gonna have to go with Domani Spero on this one, barring a major change in strategic direction for Afghanistan.
"This is not the first time we've heard the idea of a civilian expeditionary corps. Remains watching if it will stick this time.
But as in Iraq, the transition from military to eventually civilian-led, because that's where it's going -- will be challenging.
We are now seeing the "surge" of contractors in Iraq to continue reconstruction work and to provide personal security for our civilian workers. As we move to a "smaller" military footprint in Afghanistan, there will be additional requirement for diplomats and civilians to take over. Only it will be in a much larger scale when it happens and much more expensive. Afghanistan is much larger in size than Iraq and has a more difficult terrain which means bringing in civilians and protecting, feeding, housing them will be much more complex without the US military."
Don't worry, this will all be attempted during a reductionist budget environment where "discretionary spending" gets chopped. What could go wrong?
