WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Dysfunction at the US Department of State has limited American military strategy in Afghanistan to little more than hope for some sort of undefined tipping point, according to a report by the private intelligence firm Soufan Group on Friday.
"While US troops continue to fight and die alongside their Afghan partners in an attempt to hold on until negotiations can bring about a viable resolution, the utter lack of US diplomatic strategy in the country will continue to obviate the conditions in which such a resolution could be reached," the report said.
Even though the United States plays a key role, the Afghan conflict is essentially regional, characterized by "abysmal relations" between Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as competing aims of India, Iran, China and Russia, the report explained.
As a result, the US military is limited to a strategy of hoping for a "tipping point" that has yet to transpire, the report added.
The Soufan Group concluded that any ramped-up US military effort in Afghanistan must be matched by a surge in American diplomatic power in the region.
