# Former US commander: West is only halfway there in Afghanistan



## daftandbarmy (7 Oct 2011)

Former US commander: West is only halfway there in Afghanistan


Gen McChrystal, who commanded coalition forces in 2009-10 but was forced to resign in a flap over a magazine article, said the US entered Afghanistan in October 2001 with weak knowledge of Afghan culture. 

"We didn't know enough and we still don't know enough," he said. "Most of us - me included - had a very superficial understanding of the situation and history, and we had a frighteningly simplistic view of recent history, the last 50 years." 

US forces did not know the country's languages and did not make "an effective effort" to learn them, he said. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/8812108/Former-US-commander-West-is-only-halfway-there-in-Afghanistan.html


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