Four Positions on Afghanistan

• Position 1: Send more troops for a counterinsurgency strategy

-By David Kilcullen, and Australian counterinsurgency expert
-The Taliban and Al Qaeda pose too large of threat to be allowed to gain control of Afghanistan, so we must send more US and NATO troops to carry out a counterinsurgency strategy.

•  This involves putting a focus on helping the Afghans develop their own security forces and improving their standards of living while protecting them from Taliban intimidation. US forces should interact more with the population, the final goal being to make the population capable of defending themselves against the Taliban. 
• There is no purely military solution, and for this plan to be successful the problem of the Pakistani tribal areas must also be addressed through diplomacy and strengthening Pakistan against the internal. 
• The author, David Kilcullen, summed it up as "Prevent [a Taliban takeover], Protect, Build, and ultimately hand-off to the Afghans."

Position 2: Shift the focus to Pakistan
- Written by Michael A. Cohen and Parag Khanna
-The real fight is not in Afghanistan but rather Pakistan, more specifically the tribal areas. The US should focus its efforts there instead of Afghanistan.

• The authors believe that the Taliban will not be able to gain control of Afghanistan because of the lack of popular support. 
• The military effort in Pakistan has been far more successful that in Afghanistan and most of the Taliban and Al Qaeda leadership are located in PAkistan. Afghanistan is not worth the money and lives being poured into it.
• The US must strengthen the Pakistani government and military so that it becomes capable of clearing the Taliban out of the tribal areas. Drone strikes are the most effective way to eliminate Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders.

Position 3: Focus on regional negotiations instead of military solutions
-Written by Tariq Ali
-Afghanistan has always resisted foreign occupation, so the US has no chance of completing its goal as  stabilizing force. We should focus on creating regional peace initiatives.

• The Taliban continues to grow because people see it as the only way to rid the country of yet another occupation.
•  Instead of military efforts, the focus should be on developing regional pacts that guarantee support for the Afghan government from regional powers such as Russia, Pakistan, India and Iran. Additionally, the US should withdraw all forces and organize a regional pact to ensure Afghan stability for the next ten years. 
• The people of Afghanistan have been exhausted by constant war and would welcome a peace agreement in this form.

Position 4: Withdrawal of US and NATO troops
- Written by George Will
- Afghanistan is not a war that can be won. The US and NATO should withdraw troops and focus on small attacks and raids agains the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

• The US objective are impossible to achieve, and attempting to implement a counterinsurgency strategy would result in engaging hundreds of thousands more troops for a decade or longer. 
• Afghanistan never has had an effective central government and the current administration is littered with corruption. It will never be possible to drive out the Taliban completely and set up a legitimate and strong enough government. 
• The US should base all its operations "offshore" and focus on intelligence, drone attacks along the border with Pakistan,  cruise missiles and small Special Forces operations.