The Right Approach to Afghanistan? - Gen. Barry McCaffrey March 26, 2009

Favorite:

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/03/10/Military_Power_Does_it_Work

Retired four-star General Barry McCaffrey discusses U.S. military strategy in Afghanistan. "Don't go fight and win a counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan - you're in the wrong war," he says. "Afghanistan could be bigger mistake than Iraq."

-----

Does military intervention work? What is the role of non-military and multi-national groups in regime change and peace-keeping efforts?

Three distinguished participants discuss their perspectives on peace keeping and regime change. Featuring Alex de Waal, program director of the Social Science Research Council, General Barry McCaffrey, four-star general of the United States Army (retired), and Thomas Ricks, The Washington Post's Special Military Correspondent. Thomas Weiss, Presidential Professor of Political Science at The Graduate Center moderates. -- City University of New York

Barry McCaffrey served in the United States Military for 32 years and retired as a four star general. At the time of his retirement, he was the most decorated serving general in the military. During his thirteen years overseas, McCaffrey served four combat tours of duty. From 1992 to 1994, he served as Lt. General on the Joint Chiefs of Staff Pentagon staff and was also the Special Assistant to General Colin Powell. He also served as Major General on the Army Pentagon staff and commanded 26,000 soldiers during Desert Storm. He was awarded twice with both the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star for valor. Following his distinguished military career, General McCaffrey was appointed, by a unanimous Senate vote, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in the Clinton administration. He has traveled extensively throughout the world as an official representative of the United States and is a frequent presence in the media, having appeared in over 6,000 television stories and over 15,000 newspaper articles. He is currently president of his own consulting firm based in Arlington, Virginia that provides strategic, analytic, and advocacy consulting services to businesses, governments, and international organizations. He also serves as a national security analyst for NBC News.