The National Interest – Joshua Foust, Author of ASP’s Afghanistan Metrics Report, is Quoted
Source: The National Interest, 10/18/2011
Joshua Foust, a Fellow at ASP and author of “Measuring Success: Are We Winning?,” is quoted.
Excerpt:
“Other Afghanistan specialists have made similar complaints. A decade after the fighting began, writes Joshua Foust, “we still lack the means to tell whether the war is being won or not.” Part of the reason is that the United States is fighting for negative objectives—preventing the Taliban from returning to power and denying al-Qaeda its old safe haven—and there will never be a satisfying way to prove the negative. The problem in Afghanistan has been compounded by military reports that focus on the results of coalition military operations and downplay the underlying political and social effects of Taliban attacks. This track record is reason to doubt that integrating military reports into intelligence analyses will lead to a more accurate assessment of the war, especially because ISAF has a history of exaggerating progress.”
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