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Lieberman: 5 Surges for Afghanistan

Senator outlines plan to empower moderate Muslims, win war

By Gabriel Winant, Newser User

Posted Feb 6, 2009 12:12 PM CST

(Newser) – It’s going to be a difficult slog, bound to get worse before it gets better, but we must win the war in Afghanistan, writes Joe Lieberman in the Wall Street Journal. If we follow his prescriptions, he writes, we can empower moderates and make Afghanistan an al-Qaeda “graveyard” where “dreams of an Islamic empire are finally buried.” Lieberman recommends five “surges” in addition to the coming troop increase.

“Strategic coherence” surge: We've done a lousy job so far in integrating civilian and military strategy. Time to fix that.
“Civilian capacity” surge: Our embassy needs to be bigger and better.
“Afghan military” surge: Let’s help get the Afghan army up to 200,000 or more.
“Regional strategy” surge: Afghanistan’s neighbors are tampering; let’s empower Kabul to toss them out.
“Political commitment” surge: People will whisper that the war is unwinnable. We have to ignore them.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

In this 2005 file photo, a U.S. soldier walks past local workers at a construction site at the U.S. air base at Manas international airport, 30 kilometers from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)

A wreckage of a suicide attacker's vehicle is seen on the ground east of Kabul on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

In this 2007 file photo, Afghan demonstrators protest against Ahmad Ghaws Zalmai, a man accused of insulting the Quran by misinterpreting the holy book, in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

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Not when we capture or kill Osama bin Laden or Mullah Omar -- though we must do that too -- but when we have empowered and expanded the mainstream Muslim majority to stand up and defeat the extremist minority. - Joe Lieberman

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 9 comments

Guest

Feb 9, 2009 8:16 PM CST

Lieberman stayed constant; the Democratic party turned its coat on itself. He may be the last sane Democrat.

Guest

Feb 7, 2009 11:48 PM CST

Who would take any advise from this turn-coat Lieberman?

Forderon

Feb 7, 2009 6:31 AM CST

What the "look y'all, the surge worked!" people don't understand is that during the so-called surge, troop levels were simply raised to the number that were supposed to go to Iraq in the first place. But instead, Bush and Rumsfeld decided to go small from the very beginning and all hell broke loose. Proponents of "clear, hold, and build" wanted a big presence right away, but instead we let thousands of our troops die, fighting insurgencies from multiple areas and terrorists spilling in from multiple countries. The other reason the so-called surge "worked" is because local tribes and militia were bribed with millions, maybe billions of dollars. For a thorough account of the war in Iraq, check out the Frontline documentary "Bush's War".

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Afghanistan • Taliban • troop surge • Joe Lieberman • al-Qaeda • Afghanistan war

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Lieberman: 5 Surges for Afghanistan