Spencer Ackerman reports on likely push toward greater integration between ISAF and task force commanders. In my very uninformed opinion, what he describes seems like a heck of a big job for a very small number of Americans.
Special Operations Chiefs Quietly Sway Afghanistan Policy
"the fact that . . . veterans like McRaven, Harward and McChrystal favor an overall counterinsurgency strategy with a counterterrorism component demonstrates that the military no longer believes distinguishing between the two is tenable in the Afghanistan war. 'Special Operations Forces that were traditionally used for counterterrorism better understand how their capabilities fit into a counterinsurgency campaign than perhaps they did when the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began,' said Andrew Exum, a veteran of both wars and a fellow at the Center for a New American Security who over the summer advised McChrystal in a review of Afghanistan strategy.
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"In his famous August strategy review, McChrystal wrote that detention operations are 'critical to successful counterinsurgency operations' and need to work toward 'the long-term goal of getting the U.S. out of the detention business' through transition to Afghan control — a counterinsurgency task not traditionally given to a Special Operations veteran like Harward. McChrystal’s strategy recommended creating a new command, which Harward will now lead, of 'approximately 120 personnel' focused on 'defeat[ing] the insurgency through intelligence collection and analysis,' prisoner de-radicalization, and working with the Afghan corrections apparatus to 'employ best correctional practices [and] comply with Afghan laws.'
http://washingtonindependent.com/671...anistan-policy