ISAF commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal set out a clear marker for what he considers "success" in Afghanistan:
American success in Afghanistan should be measured by "the number of Afghans shielded from violence," not the number of enemy fighters killed, he said.
Unfortunately, according to updated totals from the United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan, Operation Khanjar, launched on July 2, was followed by a severe spike in civilian casualties. The vast majority of these casualties were caused by IEDs and suicide bombings attributed to anti-Kabul-government elements. But, with the spike coinciding so closely with the launch of the ISAF push into Helmand, it's clear that NATO choices continue to feed into a dynamic that has become toxic for civilians.
Raising Kaine first reported that Wes Clark won't be at the Democratic National Convention. Steve Clemons is now reporting that Clark was actually actually disinvited.
Clark was informed by Barack Obama's people that there was "no reason to come."
General Clark has been given no role of any kind at the convention.
Rubbing salt in the wound even more, the "theme" of Wednesday's Democratic convention agenda is "Securing America."
And there we go. I heard this situation went down slightly differently than how Steve reports, though the outcome was the same.
Meanwhile, here's Clark making sense of the Georgia-Russia situation. Clearly, we'd rather hear about how to handle this delicate military tussle from Evan Bayh and Ken Salazar. I do want to point out how deeply we respect John McCain's service to his country, though of course, Wes Clark's 34 years in the military and near fatal wounds in Vietnam are kind of yawners.
Incidentally, I could see this situation with Clark changing, as the Georgia-Russia conflict does change the political dynamics.
... There's some discussion as to whether this was some sort official 'disinvitation'. In general, such things do not exist, disinvitations happen when high level officials are told they have no role in an event. The message is pretty clear. Nevertheless if you want to believe that this is simply a veto of Clark having a role at the convention and him then choosing not to come, that's an accurate characterization as well.
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