The Mission in Afghanistan? (Redux)

Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill this morning on the news, when asked what our objective is in Afghanistan:
"Our objective in Afghanistan is to create an environment that can be sustained by the Afghan government that does not allow the Taliban and Al Qaeda to flourish, train, and have that as a point of strength in terms of their war against the West."

Now, why can't the military put out a similarly succinct mission statement? I know that it doesn't conform to military doctrinal terminology, but good luck finding a mission statement on Afghanistan anywhere else. In fact, we even challenged GrogNews readers to come up with their own statements a while ago.

Now, here's what I find interesting: nowhere in there is there a mention of good governance, democracy, transparency, gender equality, free markets, religious freedom, or anything else similar. We could put Augusto Pinochet in charge of Afghanistan, run the place with an iron fist and meet the Senator's statement above.

By: Brant