The Afghanistan Uplift

I've received a lot of good feedback on Afghanistan, including a series of comments and questions that center around how we will use the 37,000-troop uplift. Let me take a moment and share four quick thoughts that connect to a number of those questions.

First, I am very grateful to the nations that have contributed to this uplift. The entire NATO alliance and all our ISAF partners -- 43 today with more coming -- are committing themselves to success in Afghanistan. That is in and of itself a vital message to the people of Afghanistan AND to the Taliban that seek to overthrow the government and impose their tyranny on the population -- which does NOT support them.

Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell, IV, commander NATO Training Mission Afghanistan

Second, in terms of how we'll use these new troops, a significant number will be focused on training. All security must be local, and we'll be working very hard to train the Afghan Army and Police so they can ultimately take responsibility for their own nation. This will be challenging, but we've created a new NATO command - NATO Training Mission to Afghanistan - to lead it, and appointed Lt. Gen. Bill Caldwell, a superb general with a wealth of experience from service in Iraq, to command it. The new troops will also execute the strategy of protecting the Afghan people -- putting them at the center of the equation. This is classic counterinsurgency. In order to foster a climate of success, we must focus on the Afghan people for without their support, it will be impossible to root out the Taliban and stop further support.

Third, I think the "next big thing" that must happen in Afghanistan is a better alignment between civilian and military efforts. Everyone on all sides is working hard, but we can work smarter if we do it together. There will be a major international conference in London early in 2010 to discuss how to improve the interagency and military partnering. I'm confident the international policy makers involved will create the right structure to bring civil and military efforts together smoothly. We are truly "stronger together."

ISAF troops meet with local police and education officials in Chapahar District

Fourth, all of us involved in this undertaking have an obligation to do what I'm doing right now: communicate. We need to explain to the people of Afghanistan what we are doing and why. We have to put them first, and we must convince them to stand with us. Equally important, we need to communicate to the populations of each nation supporting ISAF what our approach is all about and why we think it is the right strategy to move forward. We must earn our allies' and partners’ support with good actions and credible communication. And finally, we must communicate to the Taliban themselves, and their allies, al-Qaeda, that we have the courage, the capacity, and the resolve to succeed in Afghanistan -- which I firmly believe we will.

Adm. James Stavridis
Commander, U.S. European Command and
Supreme Allied Commander, Europe