The Long War Against Extremism in Afghanistan

By General David Petraeus (Ret.)

General David Petraeus served more than 37 years in the U.S. military with six consecutive commands, five of which were combat, including command of the Multi-National Force-Iraq during the Surge, U.S. Central Command, and Coalition and U.S. Forces in Afghanistan. He is a partner in the KKR global investment firm and chairs the firm’s global institute.

Nearly two and a half years ago, General David Petraeus (US Army, Ret.) wrote an opinion piece published in The Washington Post, titled, ‘5 ‘big ideas’ to guide us in the Long War against Islamic extremism’.

His fundamental point was that the U.S. had to get the ‘big ideas’ right in order to establish a framework for the comprehensive civil-military effort required to make progress against the Islamist extremists the US has fought in unending war since late 2001.  The Surge in Iraq, which Petraeus commanded from February 2007 to September 2008, had impressed upon him that determining the right big ideas was the most important task of a strategic leader.  In fact, he has frequently observed since then that the surge of ideas mattered much more than the surge of forces

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