Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Kulwant Singh, Col. Brian Rees, and Dr. David Leffler published an editorial responding to US Army Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who vowed that he would use a “holistic” strategy and take extreme measures to avoid Afghan civilian casualties. Its “measure of effectiveness will not be the number of enemy killed, it will be the number of Afghans shielded from violence,” he said. That authors assert that: “By starting to think holistically and measuring the effectiveness of avoiding casualties, McChrystal is on the right track. However, his new strategy may not be sufficient to bring an end to the protracted violence. War is based in social stress that is not likely to be ended by changing the rules of engagement, limiting airstrikes or using small ground units in search and detention operations.” Their provocative editorial was published as a “Feature” in the 17 June 2009 issue of the Pajhwok Afghan News. It is entitled: Military Solution to Afghanistan Improbable.
