The departing top general in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, thinks “hard-fought security gains have often failed to bring about effective governance that would ensure long-term stability,” reports the Washington Post.

 

Allen, unsurprisingly, acknowledges what has become a virtual consensus, that the war in Afghanistan has failed to achieve its goals of defeating the Taliban insurgency and establishing security and stability.

Instead the insurgency is alive and well and rates of violence are higher than when Obama decided to surge in 2009. Now, the Obama administration is attempting to withdraw most troops by 2014, although a significant residual force of tens of thousands is expected to remain.

“In some ways, it feels like I’m leaving family behind to an uncertain future,” Allen said, as he discussed his departure as top general in a failed war.

He’s not alone in his assessment. British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said last week that there is a “growing realisation on both sides of” the conflict in Afghanistan “that neither side can win outright.”