By Steve Hynd
Politico reported the other day that the Obama administration is finally getting ready to deliver those promised benchmarks for it's Afghanistan and Pakistan stratergy. Well, sorta.
Along with an array of dozens of numerical indicators, a system of red, yellow and green indicators will help White House and congressional policymakers spot which objectives are in trouble, which are unchanged since the last report, and which are showing significant progress...The official said one measurement is "the proportion of the Afghan population that is now secured." ... The document will include specific metrics under nine broad objectives � *some of them classified, and divided roughly half for Afghanistan and half for Pakistan*. The list has not been released, but is likely to leak after it goes to lawmakers.
You've got to be kidding me! Color coded metrics, reminiscent of the much-lampooned Threat Level Indicators of post-9/11 paranoia - and some of them are going to be secret! That isn't establishing a set of transparent metrics that allows the American people to properly assess whether the US presence in Afghanistan is either in the national interest or is worth the blood and treasure being spilled.
Michael Cohen writes:
if we're going to measure success in Afghanistan by the successful realization of counter-insurgency goals, then we've restricted a whole level of the conversation we need to be having. Or even worse, we're having a conversation that is based on measuring the success of an operation that at its core may be fundamentally flawed.
Now we know that even that restricted conversation will be further restricted because some of the metrics, and any progress or lack of it in those areas, will be kept secret.
We're being steamrollered into mission creep. Counter-insurgency "clear, hold and build" has entirely taken over from counter-terrorism "hunt, kill and disupt". That might be the right thing to do - although I have my doubts - but the point is that it wasn't what Obama said would happen and government policy has radically shifted in favor of an interventionist, long-war, nation-building policy straight from the military and the folks at CNAS without any official announcement or very much public debate.
"Color coded metrics, reminiscent of the much-lampooned Threat Level Indicators of post-9/11 paranoia - and some of them are going to be secret!"
ReplyDeleteExcuse me, please. These are not analogous to the threat advisory panel. The use of "stoplight charts" is a long and learned practice of any decent analyst. It's guarenteed to lull audiences into false complacency as long as that sea of green is seen. Then the harsh reds show you what you are supposed to focus on. This is powerpoint ranger 101, my friend.