The following is the complete letter to the Economist. They only printed a portion.
"A losing cause doesn't automatically have to become a lost cause. Iraq showed that." So says my favorite magazine, The Economist. While I am far from convinced that we'll get out of Iraq cleanly, it is absolutely absurd to keep comparing and talking about the surge. It has become some kind of formula for success. Nothing could be further from the truth. All we did in Iraq is separate the factions and pay off the insurgents.
By any objective opinion, Afghanistan is not Iraq and a "fast train to nowhere." I basically think the counter insurgency strategy could possibly work but it would take us years. I mean years, like 20. And, McChrystal as a Special Forces trained officer knew it better than any man on the planet.
General Petraeus is surely equal and maybe better than McChrystal. He is certainly more media saavy. However, he is no magic bullit for Afghanistan. If we think such, we might as well believe Afghanie corruption is ended, Karzai is a credible leader, his brother is the epitome of honesty, drug Lords have beaten their swords into plow shares, and women are now full partners in the country.
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