On the recordMarch 10, 2010
I would like to speak about the failure of the counterinsurgency strategy. The Brookings Institution recently reported that, in terms of raw violence, the situation is at an historic worst level with early 2010 levels of various types of attacks much higher than even last year at this time. Much of that is due to the recent Marjah campaign and, more generally, to the deployment of additional U.S. and Afghan troops to parts of the country where they have not been present before. The President has called this war a just war. The framing of war as 'just' is served to legitimize the slaughter of innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan. A 200-page report by the RAND Corporation is entitled, 'Counterintelligence in Afghanistan Deals a Huge Blow to our Ideas of Counterinsurgency.' It reads: In many cases, a significant direct intervention by U.S. military forces may undermine popular support and legitimacy. The United States is also unlikely to remain for the duration of most insurgencies. This study's assessment of 90 insurgencies indicates that it takes an average of 14 years to defeat insurgents once an insurgency develops. Occupations fuel insurgencies. In other words, this assessment does not fit into the President's supposed rapid increase and the shaky plan to withdraw by the summer of 2011.
