The Long Slog Up the Mountain

As I noted early on, we can't surge geography in Afghanistan. It is a tough place to get to even before we fight there. I was later surprised that our stated goal is to surge our forces in a 6-month period. I was pleased that we apparently could move faster than I initially thought, but wondered how the time factor changed so quickly.

Well, it didn't. That faster deployment likely won't happen:

On Monday, Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, the second-highest ranking U.S. general in Afghanistan, said the rapid escalation of American troops would take longer than expected, possibly as long as 11 months.

Most will arrive by August, according to Admiral Mullen. But even that isn't within six months.