Dempsey: Insider Attacks Won’t Affect NATO’s Afghan Strategy

By Nick SimeoneAmerican Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON – The chairman of the JointChiefs of Staff stressed again today that NATO’s decision to curtail closelypartnered operations with Afghan forces because of on-going attacks on thecoalition is only a tactical change that will not undermine the goal ofproducing a trained Afghan security force by the end of 2014.
Answering questions following remarks atthe Air Force Association’s Air and Space Conference, Army Gen. Martin E.Dempsey said the new rules issued by NATO’s International Security AssistanceForce in response to insider attacks are being wrongly portrayed as a revisionof NATO’s overall goals in Afghanistan.
“They’re tactical changes in response toa changing threat and by the way to tensions that have been generated over therelease of this video and other things that are inflaming the Muslim world,”Dempsey said. “But they’re in no way an indication that we’ve changed ourcampaign objectives.”
The order was issued Sept. 16 inresponse to a series of deadly attacks by Afghan soldiers and police, orindividuals posing as them, which have killed 51 members of the coalition thisyear.
A day after telling American ForcesPress Service that he has sought lessons from history by consulting with hisRussian counterpart on the decade of Soviet experience in Afghanistan, Dempseymade clear that the coalition will adapt to the threat, comparing it to theU.S. experience in Iraq when roadside bombs, or improvised explosive devices,emerged as the single-biggest threat to American forces during the war there.
“To suggest that we shouldn’t beadapting to the insider threat, it’s kind of analogous to me to say ‘OK, wellwe’ve got IEDs, let’s just keep driving down the road, maybe at some pointthey’ll stop blowing them up,’” the chairman said. “It’s not about changing theobjectives, although somehow it’s being portrayed that way.”
Dempsey also acknowledged the UnitedStates faces “significant challenges” in the Middle East following days ofanti-American violence in countries where populations have overthrown dictatorsduring the Arab Spring, including in Egypt and Libya.
At this point, he said, the UnitedStates is uncertain where all this change is heading, and should behavecautiously.
“Einstein said, ‘If I have an hour tosave the world, I’ll spend 55 minutes understanding the problem and then fiveminutes solving it.’ I feel like we’re still in that first 55 minutes,” thechairman said. “We need to figure out where this thing is all going, and then-- and only then -- should we be engaged in trying to help solve it.”