Armed Forces News

David Petraeus, the retired former CIA director and commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, is urging the Obama administration and the next president to continue providing direct support to forces in the country in their fight against the Taliban. “We have a real fight on our hands in Afghanistan, but not a hopeless one. And in this context, even modest U.S. and NATO military contributions have the potential to make a considerable difference,” Petraeus and Kenneth O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution wrote in a May 20 op-ed article published in the Wall Street Journal. They urged decision-makers to pursue the fight as vigorously as possible. “The bottom line is simple: While we … need to keep a focus on whether U.S. and NATO forces are adequate in size for the current mission, we need to take the gloves off those forces already in-country.” Air power – bombing missions against Taliban targets – “will very likely make much of the difference between some version of victory and defeat,” Petraeus and O’Hanlon wrote.