The big news of this week centered around the testimony of General Petraeus—in town for his annual appearances before Congress.  His testimony was utterly unsurprising—progress is being made, we can’t afford to threaten that progress by pulling out now, this year will be difficult. In fact, it’s testimony that’s very similar to that of last year. Petraeus’ testimony went largely unchallenged. The House resolution calling for withdrawal of all troops by the end of the year did earn 28 additional votes over last year, including a small but growing number of Republicans.

In part because of the huge disconnect that we now see with the American public on the war (the latest Washington Post poll found that 75% want a significant number of troops home this summer on schedule, which is not what Petraeus testified to). The Afghanistan Study Group organized a call on Thursday with Congressman Dana Rohrabacher to talk about his reasons for voting to end the war this year, which we have blogged on and included in this wrap-up.

Articles

Poll: Nearly Two-Thirds of Americans Say Afghan War Isn’t Worth Fighting
The Washington Post by Scott Wilson and Jon Cohen
3/15/11
“Nearly two-thirds of Americans now say the war in Afghanistan is no longer worth fighting, the highest proportion yet opposed to the conflict, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. he finding signals a growing challenge for President Obama as he decides how quickly to pull U.S. forces from the country beginning this summer. After nearly a decade of conflict, political opposition to the battle breaks sharply along partisan lines, with only 19 percent of Democratic respondents and half of Republicans surveyed saying the war continues to be worth fighting.”

Sen Kristen Gillibrand Presses Administration for Clear Withdrawal Plan from Afghanistan
The Huffington Post by Amanda Terkel
3/15/11
“WASHINGTON — While President Obama has said that U.S. combat forces will begin leaving Afghanistan in July 2011 and be fully out by 2014, the pace of that withdrawal is still up in the air. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is now pressing the administration for a clear redeployment plan so that the American public receives a degree of certainty regarding how much longer the war will last. Her announcement comes on the same day that Gen. David Petraeus will be testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, of which Gillibrand is a member.”

Petraeus Tells Panel July Drawdown in Afghanistan May Include Some Combat Troops
New York Times by Elisabeth Bumiller
3/16/11
Gen. David H. Petraeus told Congress on Wednesday that some American combat troops might be included in an initial withdrawal of United States forces from Afghanistan in July, but he said that he was still preparing options for President Obama and that no final decision had been made.

Pressure Mounts on all Parties in Afghan War to Begin Talks
New York Time by Alissa J. Rubin
3/16/11
“KABUL, Afghanistan — As American troops press the Taliban in their desert and mountain redoubts, Western diplomats, Taliban leaders and the Afghan government have begun to take a hard look at what it would take to start a negotiation to end the fighting.”

Cut Pentagon’s Budget, Reduce Afghan Forces
Politico by Kasie Hunt
3/15/11
“DAVENPORT, Iowa — America should slash defense spending — and consider shrinking its presence in Afghanistan, Haley Barbour said Monday night.  Barbour, a likely candidate for president in 2012, told Iowa county leaders and activists here that the GOP won’t have any credibility on cutting spending if they’re not willing to trim the defense budget — often considered sacrosanct for Republicans.”

Who is Winning Afghanistan War? US Officials Increasingly Disagree
Christian Science Monitor by Anna Mulrine
3/16/11
“Gen. David Petraeus travels to Capitol Hill this week, eager to convince an increasingly skeptical American public that the Afghanistan war is worth the effort – and that it is going well, too. s he appears in Washington, nearly two-thirds of Americans no longer believe that the Afghanistan war “has been worth fighting,” according to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll.”

Opinion

Afghanistan’s Many Annual Turning Points
Registan by Joshua Foust
3/15/11
“With the war in Afghanistan, there is something of an annual tradition in the news analysis and pundits who write about it: declare that year, no matter the circumstances, plans, or context, a turning point in the war. This year is, obviously, no exception:”

Obama weighs talking to the Taliban, Hezbollah
Washington Post By David Ignatius
3/17/11
“In the case of the Taliban, the administration has repeatedly stated that it is seeking a political settlement of the war in Afghanistan rather than a military one. That formula sometimes seems hollow when more than 100,000 U.S. troops are in combat. But it got more definition last month from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who opened the doors wider for dialogue.”

The Inertia of Intervention
Philadelphia Inquirer by Matthew Leatherman
3/10/11
“After he was dismissed for attempting to escalate the Korean War into a ground invasion of China, Gen. Douglas MacArthur opined that “old soldiers never die; they just fade away.” That may be true of soldiers, but not of the wars they fought. Any of the 130,000 U.S. troops stationed in Germany, Italy, Japan, and South Korea could tell you that.  Today, Congress and President Obama must determine whether our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan will be similarly open-ended.”

From the Blog

Quagmires make for Strange Bedfellows
Afghanistan Study Group by Will Keola Thomas
3/18/11
“Some might say that it would take a particularly cold day in political hell (or Washington D.C. for that matter) for conservative Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA-46) and progressive Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH-10) to seek warmth under the legislative covers with one another. Well, it was a balmy 63 degrees on Thursday in our nation’s capital and yet the two congressmen did it anyway in voting together on a resolution calling for all U.S. troops to be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of the year.”

#WINNING in Afghanistan
Afghanistan Study Group by Will Keola Thomas
3/16/11
“Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings on the parallels between the PR campaign of a self-destructive major drug-consuming Hollywood star and General Petraeus’ publicity tour for a self-destructive policy in major drug-producing Afghanistan: “This is the Charlie Sheen counterinsurgency strategy. Which is to give exclusive interviews to every major network saying you’re winning and hope the U.S. public actually agrees with you.” But the public isn’t buying the spin in either case…

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