ADM Stavridis meets the Afghan Kandak (Battalion) commander in Forward Operating Base Shindand while visiting ISAF troops in Western Afghanistan 19 January 2010.

I’m back from spending a few days in Afghanistan last week – and I came away encouraged and optimistic about our approach. 

In the course of three days in both Kabul and Herat, which is out west, I had the privilege to observe both ISAF and Afghan forces in action.  With this trip complete and an important international conference on Afghanistan upcoming in London, I thought I’d take the opportunity to share a few observations with you. 

My arrival in Kabul on Monday morning, January 18, amidst an insurgent attack in the capital was particularly timely.  The Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan National Police (ANP) responded quickly and effectively to prevent the insurgents from disrupting government operations.  It was inspiring to see firsthand the progress that Afghan forces have made, and the increasing responsibility they are assuming for their nation’s security.  All 15 insurgents were killed or captured, with a minimal loss of life on the Afghan side.  Our NATO troops were NOT involved!  more…

While the SHAPE and U.S. European Command reading lists (available from our websites) provide some wonderful selections, I thought I’d quickly offer five good books that I read over the course of 2009 that relate to some aspect of what we are about these days.  Since reading both fiction and non-fiction is a good way to keep things in balance,  some of each are on the short list below.

“Flashman” by George MacDonald Fraser.  Historical fiction often provides the best illumination of a place or a time, and in this first volume of the Flashman series, Fraser – who died last year – provides a vivid and instructive view of the first Anglo-Afghan war.  Here we see the disastrous retreat from Kabul in 1842 which cost the British over 15,000 lives in essentially a month’s time, led by the hapless General Elphinstone.  It is a tale which provides a fascinating insider’s view of the British experience in the 19^th century, and well worth the time of those who are studying that troubled nation today.  Old ghosts rattle through Afghanistan, and this novel shows us several in depth and detail. more…

I’ve received a lot of good feedback on Afghanistan, including a series of comments and questions that center around how we will use the 37,000-troop uplift.  Let me take a moment and share four quick thoughts that connect to a number of those questions.

First, I am very grateful to the nations that have contributed to this uplift.  The entire NATO alliance and all our ISAF partners — 43 today with more coming — are committing themselves to success in Afghanistan.  That is in and of itself a vital message to the people of Afghanistan AND to the Taliban that seek to overthrow the government and impose their tyranny on the population — which does NOT support them. more…