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By this summer, the media will be reporting on definitive progress in Afghanistan, a former vice chief of staff of the Army told graduating Command and General Staff College students.
Jack Keane, a retired general who now has his own consulting firm and has conducted assessments recently in Afghanistan, spoke at Intermediate Level Education graduation Dec. 10. Nearly 400 students graduated from ILE class 2010-02, including 46 international students from 42 countries.
Marine Maj. Jesse L. Sjoberg earned the General George C. Marshall Award, presented to the distinguished U.S. graduate in ILE. Canadian Maj. Kyle Solomon earned the General Dwight D. Eisenhower Award as the distinguished international graduate.
Keane told many graduating students, who would be deploying to Afghanistan soon, about his assessment of the country. He said that in every task force he spoke to, he found evidence of members of the Taliban wanting to reintegrate back into society or cross over.
“What we are about to achieve is major, fundamental change,” he said. “My assessment tells me the momentum has shifted to our favor. It is beginning an erosion of Taliban will.”
Keane said while 67 percent of the Afghan National Army soldiers may be illiterate, they are still more capable fighters than the Taliban.
“All it has to do is be better than the illiterate force it’s fighting,” he said of the ANA.
Keane said like the war in Iraq, it took the United States and allies years to understand the type of counterinsurgency warfare needed for success.
“We were facing the most formidable insurgency the west has ever encountered,” he said. “Unlimited amount of human resources, unlimited amount of ammunition, unlimited amount of weapons, unlimited amount of money … these are all things insurgents have always starved for in the past, they needed none of it.”
Unlike Iraq, insurgents in Afghanistan have established support zones in rural areas away from the urban population centers.
“There is one thing that’s a major obstacle to accomplishing success in Afghanistan by 2014, and it is significant, and that is the sanctuaries in Pakistan,” he said. “Make no mistake about it, the government of Pakistan and its military are aiding and abetting those sanctuaries.”
Keane said he’s planning another assessment of the region in a few months.
He said one of the biggest successes of the nine-year protracted war is how the U.S. Army has shown its resilience to the world.
“We have been at war for nine years, and you have been with us every one of those days,” he said. “That is unprecedented in our Army.”
Keane said the Army’s success was in spite of the drawdown of forces at the end of the Cold War, which he said was far too low to deal with the strategic surprise of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the commitments that followed. Though it has been successful, Keane said the Army has been strained.
“We should be 100,000 larger than we are today, that’s the harsh reality of it,” he said. “The truth is, the Pentagon has no stomach for it, nor do the leaders of the Army, and they, in my judgement, are fundamentally wrong, and this is what has placed the additional stress and strain on the force, because we have been too small, rotations come too quickly and too frequently to bear.”
Keane told CGSC students their service comes at a time when few Americans understand what it’s like to serve in the military.
“You are different than most of the American people in one fundamental way,” he said. “You don’t want to die, but based on your commitment to your country, you’re willing to — and that separates you from most of America.”
By this summer, the media will be reporting on definitive progress in Afghanistan, a former vice chief of staff of the Army told graduating Command and General Staff College students.
Jack Keane, a retired general who now has his own consulting firm and has conducted assessments recently in Afghanistan, spoke at Intermediate Level Education graduation Dec. 10. Nearly 400 students graduated from ILE class 2010-02, including 46 international students from 42 countries.
Marine Maj. Jesse L. Sjoberg earned the General George C. Marshall Award, presented to the distinguished U.S. graduate in ILE. Canadian Maj. Kyle Solomon earned the General Dwight D. Eisenhower Award as the distinguished international graduate.
Keane told many graduating students, who would be deploying to Afghanistan soon, about his assessment of the country. He said that in every task force he spoke to, he found evidence of members of the Taliban wanting to reintegrate back into society or cross over.
“What we are about to achieve is major, fundamental change,” he said. “My assessment tells me the momentum has shifted to our favor. It is beginning an erosion of Taliban will.”
Keane said while 67 percent of the Afghan National Army soldiers may be illiterate, they are still more capable fighters than the Taliban.
“All it has to do is be better than the illiterate force it’s fighting,” he said of the ANA.
Keane said like the war in Iraq, it took the United States and allies years to understand the type of counterinsurgency warfare needed for success.
“We were facing the most formidable insurgency the west has ever encountered,” he said. “Unlimited amount of human resources, unlimited amount of ammunition, unlimited amount of weapons, unlimited amount of money … these are all things insurgents have always starved for in the past, they needed none of it.”
Unlike Iraq, insurgents in Afghanistan have established support zones in rural areas away from the urban population centers.
“There is one thing that’s a major obstacle to accomplishing success in Afghanistan by 2014, and it is significant, and that is the sanctuaries in Pakistan,” he said. “Make no mistake about it, the government of Pakistan and its military are aiding and abetting those sanctuaries.”
Keane said he’s planning another assessment of the region in a few months.
He said one of the biggest successes of the nine-year protracted war is how the U.S. Army has shown its resilience to the world.
“We have been at war for nine years, and you have been with us every one of those days,” he said. “That is unprecedented in our Army.”
Keane said the Army’s success was in spite of the drawdown of forces at the end of the Cold War, which he said was far too low to deal with the strategic surprise of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the commitments that followed. Though it has been successful, Keane said the Army has been strained.
“We should be 100,000 larger than we are today, that’s the harsh reality of it,” he said. “The truth is, the Pentagon has no stomach for it, nor do the leaders of the Army, and they, in my judgement, are fundamentally wrong, and this is what has placed the additional stress and strain on the force, because we have been too small, rotations come too quickly and too frequently to bear.”
Keane told CGSC students their service comes at a time when few Americans understand what it’s like to serve in the military.
“You are different than most of the American people in one fundamental way,” he said. “You don’t want to die, but based on your commitment to your country, you’re willing to — and that separates you from most of America.”
