General Petraeus coins a new phrase for Afghanistan.
If General David Petraeus would not have been an intellectual-soldier, he would certainly have been a great pitchman. The latest catchphrase from his repertoire encapsulates the new US strategy in Afghanistan.
Petraeus is determined to apply his method to Afghanistan: living among the people, bringing them security, establishing a legitimate government, and creating a viable economy. He calls this the Anaconda strategy. Projected on a screen, the scheme resembles a fat snake nourishing itself from all possible elements, from special forces to propaganda operations to school construction. This will require, he says, “not unity of command with NATO, which isn’t possible, but unity of coordination,” which does not exist yet. “If we have the right ideas,” Petraeus says, “they will let us beat the extremists, who have taken advantage of the fact that we are still prisoners of archaic military methods.”[City Journal]
The article contends “that no American strategic decision gets made these days without hearing Petraeus’s advice”. That need for “unity of coordination” perhaps provides a clue to the official designation given to Richard Holbrooke — Special Coordinator of US policy on Pakistan and Afghanistan.
For the other half of Holbrooke’s designation that clubs Afghanistan and Pakistan together, the British Chief of Defence Staff, Sir Jock Stirrup explains the wider picture.
Today the “wider picture” means both countries. “The Taliban movement – and Taliban is now a catch-all phrase for ideologues, criminals, people with tribal grudges, people who are quite simply guns for hire to keep bread on the table – is on both sides of the border. It makes no distinction between one side or the other. Some people move across. Some are based almost exclusively in Pakistan. Some are based exclusively in Afghanistan. It’s impossible to distinguish between those two and actually, in my view, not necessary. The border is not relevant,” he says.[Times]
OT but how unfortunate is a name like Jock Stirrup (Jock Strap)? I’m sure he got slagged more than his fare share at Sandhurst / Britannia / …
An interesting day at work..Patraeus and his anaconda, Rajnath and his surgical strikes, Musharraf with a “chair” in washington and Holbrooks in India, while Afghanistan postpones elections to August.
“Dr Man Mohan singh is fast recovering” says Dr “No Smoking”…
amongst all this the interesting fallout would be a take on making even the India – Kashmir border “irrelevant” by active participation from Mayawati as the next PM
More on Anaconda later
“Anaconda Plan” has a reference in American Military History. I think the title was chosen as much to communicate Petreaus’s intent, as good marketing. The Ananconda Plan was proposed to win the American Civil War. It was rejected because it did not promise quick victory. It is pretty much what happened anyway without being formally adopted. In principle a similar thing is planned, multiple actions, isolation, and control until the opposition surrenders, changes sided or is destroyed.
General Petraeus is proposing a plan that will win with enough resources and time.
But you may have noticed that Americans are not the most patient people in the world.
We’ll see.
@prabhakar bedi (at srl 2)
“by active participation from Mayawati as the next PM”
Ms Mayawati’s new office / res (?) HQ in Delhi at {crossing Kautilya Marg / Sardar Patel Marg.} Next to Hotel Diplomat.
The omens therefore, that The Queen Empress will solve the problem – of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and so on – if only she tones down her birthday bashes and does’nt place her statue under the vacant Imperial canopy at India Gate.
(a) On the other hand why not ? King George V, previous canopy resident has left ( gent who shot 1000 pheasants in 6 hours) So what’s wrong with shooting 1000 rich upper caste peasants to make your day ?
(b) Or maybe not a good act to follow – King George V, was, after all deleted to death by his doctor…
The Anaconda strategy is nothing new , it is what the Indian Army has been following since a long time in J&k & the North-East . Moreover , it is just lip service & is not being followed actually by the US . The civilian collateral casualties continue to rise due to ISAF operations & drone attacks .