Surge Not

Image via Wikipediahttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/01/AR2008100100789.html?hpid=sec-world

Speaking in Washington yesterday, McKiernan described Afghanistan as "a far more complex environment than I ever found in Iraq." The country's mountainous terrain, rural population, poverty, illiteracy, 400 major tribal networks and history of civil war all make for unique challenges, he said.

"The word I don't use for Afghanistan is 'surge,'" McKiernan stressed, saying that what is required is a "sustained commitment. to a counterinsurgency effort that could last many years and would ultimately require a political, not military, solution."