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President Barack Obama’s Afghanistan plan bears parallels with the Iraq surge plan — send more U.S. troops; push local government to take more responsibility and to crack down on corruption; drive a wedge between insurgents; apply benchmarks. Will these solutions work again?

David Katz agrees that the U.S. must go on the offense in Afghanistan but argues that in the Pashtun tribal belt, soft power will be more effective than hard armed force.

And Marine Lt. Col. Glen Butler urges leaders to seek answers to the Afghanistan problem not just from the usual experts, but from the strategic corporals on the ground.