When it comes to the Afghanistan crisis, choosing between the two alternatives available is a lot more complicated than just flipping a coin to see if it lands on its head. Even more delicate is the fact that any decision either way affects the lives of thousands of American soldiers at the frontlines of a war that many people see no end in sight. It’s been 8 years since United States forces landed in Afghanistan with a two pronged attack on both the Taliban and AlQaeda.
Almost a decade and $189 billion later, success is fickle, the Hamid Karzai government is still unable to stand on its own, and the United States have almost have nothing to show for the adventure in the desert. In business, this is where the top guys call the middle guys and pull the little guys out of the deal. Their reason? Poor Returns on Investment. Of course, the same dollars and cents benchmark doesn’t necessarily work here but is it time to pull the plug and cut your losses before Afghanistan becomes an endless quest in the desert? A part of me is shamelessly utilitarian, and will argue that the greater good will involve giving the Afghans a serious timetable for withdrawal, just as in Iraq. That will be a good on many levels, I think.
The argument to leave Iraq (as dicey as it was) was much easier for President Barack Obama to make, and it started from the fact that Americans overwhelmingly supported that decision, afterall it was George Bush’s unjustified war (subject to individual interpretation). I am one of those people who say that no matter how we got to Iraq and how the events unfolded, maybe the Iraqi’s will be better off in the long term, or now they have no choice but to make it work. That is a big maybe, and the facts of the case will be history’s to judge.
Afghanistan is a slightly different beast, and the fact that progress is not so clear cut and the president’s camp are openly divided on which option is the best one seeks to suggest that this could very well be the issue that stains the Obama years. About 865 U.S. troops have lost their lives so far, the public support for this noble mission is waning and the recent developments about the long term strategy is making the decision making process even more complicated.
The top U.S. commander, Stanley McChrystal wants upwards of 40,000 troops on the ground. People like Joe Biden wants fewer U.S. troops targeting only Al-Qaeda, along with more training of Afghan troops, and NATO hangs somewhere in the middle of those two. Pardon my cynicism, but training Afghan troops to fight their own war might be the best way forward here, but perhaps unless the U.S. shows their willingness to punch out and cut their losses, there will be no incentive for the Afghans to ‘step up’. I know this may sound loony coming from me, but does it seem to anyone else that we are probably more concerned about Taliban’s oppression in Afghanistan than the Afghans themselves. Of course, the United States interest is to prevent Taliban from giving Al-Qaida a safe haven to regroup, fair point, but maybe we wouldn’t need 40,00 men on the ground to do that. So, the president needs time to decide. The problem however, is the war in Afghanistan and the attacks on the troops will not ‘pause’ until the president decides. I hate to admit that we have come full circle on this ‘war on terror’ conversation, and maybe leaving Afghanistan sooner than another 8 years will not be too bad an idea to consider now.
Just my random thought, of course.
14 comments:
The only options I believe are to stay and see it through, although in what capacity, I don’t know, I am not a military strategist.
Hello sir. I will take your idea a little ferthur and say that we have nothing to lose by leaving. I after eight years they are not better off we need to cut bait.
I believe that leaving Afghanistan at this point is completely irrational, and possible cataclysmic for the progress we have already put so much blood into. It is the charge of the United States to “insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence”. We will have problems in Afghanistan if we stay, or if we leave. We must stay in Afghanistan.
Give the general the resources he ask for. He knows better than politicians what it takes to get the job done.
Response to nift HG post:
What job? If the Us will lose whether they stay or leave then what sense does it make to stay.
U.S went into Afghanistan knowing who our enemy is and we let them get away and now the enemy has change. Fail to plan, Plan to Fail thats what we are heading to after eight years. Might as well put blind people in to command of our military force
An exit strategy in the war in Afghanistan has to be an option. We are not any close to winning this ” war” than we were eight years ago. We are losing American lives overseas and losing money that the American people need badly
Our president Barack Obama is right about learning all the details of this on going war. We can’t just continue doing what we have been doing for the past 8 years. A new strategy is needed and we have to exhaust all possibilities before making and solid decisions about how to proceed in Afghanistan and the middle east. What seems like slow decision making on the white house is nothing compared to the repercussions we will incur if we were to make the wrong decision. Let us support our president who has the same intentions as we do and that is to end the war but more importantly, eliminate terrorism.
How many meetings does the President have to take with his advisers in this matter? The American people want out of this ridiculous war. Vice-Presient Biden is correct. Train the Afghanians to fight for themselves and bring in the drones.
Make Afganistan the 51st State and then we have every reason to protect, defend and rebuild the country
After eight years of being pretty much ignored and mismanaged by a Bush administration that was obsessed with their Iraq disaster, the war in Afghanistan is now the quagmire that offers no clear answers, 40,000 more troops just means more U.S. casualties
if after 8 years a country cannot stand up for itself why should we continue to incur losses of life, quality of life, destruction of family units
I can not even remember why the USA is fighting in Afghanistan. If European countries don't want to join the war, then what is the purpose of being there in the first place?
As the government is struggling to find funds for their coffers they might well consider pulling our troops out of Afghanistan - that would save this country billions, not to mention lives as well!
This war has made no difference at all to the people of Afghanistan - they are probably worse off than they ever were.
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