The Economist Pushes Obama and NATO Deeper into Afghan Quagmire

The Oct. 17-23, 2009 newsstand issue of The Economist, the flagship publication of the British financier oligarchy, flagrantly pushes for President Obama, along with NATO, to plunge, head-first, into the Afghan quagmire. The cover story of the issue, headlined "Obama's War—Why Afghanistan Needs More Troops," demands that the President immediately grant Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for 40,000 more American combat troops for Afghanistan, to launch a full-scale counterinsurgency campaign. The issue contained no fewer than three news articles, accompanying the editorial demand for the 40,000 troop increase.

The Economist, which has advocated drug legalization, including Afghanistan's world-class opium production, taunts Obama that he cannot succumb to the temptation to send a small troop contingent, to please the leftwing of his own party. "That would be a mistake," The Economist warned. "General McChrystal said that the core of his strategy is its first stage: to regain the initiative. To do that, a substantial surge is needed. Gordon Brown's announcement of an extra 500 is a welcome gesture, but will make little difference. Mr Obama should send at least 40,000. Most of all," the editorial concludes, "Mr Obama needs to fight this war with conviction. His wobbles over the last month have done more to comfort his enemies and worry his allies than any recent losses on the ground. Only if he persuades his troops, his countrymen and the Taliban that America is there for the long haul does he have a chance of turning this war around."

The issue of The Economist coincided with the meeting yesterday in Bratislava, Slovakia of the NATO defense ministers, including U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates. During the meeting, the NATO ministers gave their endorsement to the McChrystal plan, as declared by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who told reporters, "There is the support of this counterinsurgency strategy, which means that ministers agree that it does not solve the problems in Afghanistan just to hunt down and kill individual terrorists. What we need is a much broader strategy which stabilizes the whole Afghan society."

This statement of support was not exactly welcomed by Gates, who made it clear that no decision had been made yet on what the U.S. would do with the McChrystal request. He called any conclusion "vastly premature," explaining, "The question is, do we have the strategy right in light of the situation we face? Does it need refinement in some way?" He said that before any assessment is made of McChrystal's troop request, a total strategy and assessment of the situation, following the disastrous presidential election round, must be completed. He said there will be no decisions made or announced for two to three weeks.