U.S. Army Spc. Jesus B. Fernandez greets children from Angla Kala village during a unit visit in Afghanistan’s Kunar province, Feb. 6, 2010. International Security Assistance Force troops regularly meet with village elders to improve communications between residents and government officials. Fernandez is an assistant team leader assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Gary A. Witte
In an interview aired this weekend, Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, noted signs that the new strategy in Afghanistan “is beginning to bear fruit.” The secretary noted signs of a possible turnaround in Afghanistan, as expressed last week at the NATO Ministerial in Istanbul by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander on the ground.
“I think we are beginning to see the impact of the Marines going into Helmand province. We are beginning to see the impact of increased forces in other places,” Gates said. “I think part of what many of us are feeling is that there’s an intangible increase in confidence and hope, both on the part of the Afghans, but also on the part of the nations that are with us in there, trying to help.”
“There are some small signs that the strategy that General McChrystal is following is beginning to bear fruit,” he added.
But Gates emphasized that the fight is far from over. “It is still going to be a hard fight. There’s some very hard days ahead,” he said.
“We have to do two things: create conditions in which [former Taliban] can have a job and provide them security to protect them and their families [from Taliban reprisals],” Gates said. “But the key is, it seems to me, is that reconciliation has to be on the terms of the Afghan government and consistent with the Afghan constitution.”
To read more of Secretary Gates’s interview about the current strategy efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, visit www.army.mil.
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