Elusive Victory
In the first post-9/11 battlefield, the challenges remain complex—and deadly
Clancy agrees—so much so that he voluntarily extended his stay in Afghanistan for another year. It is a pivotal time for the country, he says, and he has seen Afghan forces step up and training "start to stick." But he echoes the concerns of U.S. officials throughout the country, too. "There are times I think we're really making big progress," he says. "Then we get set back again." A number of high-level Afghan officials that he regularly works with "either bought their positions or are trying to get other guys fired for corruption or ineptness. ... You never know who the real power broker is."
It will take time to sort that out. But time is in short supply "and the enemy is going to try to wait it out," says a senior U.S. military official. He invokes a Pashtun proverb, one frequently cited here these days: "The invaders may have the watches, but we have the time."
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