Issue #73
Last Update May 10, 2013
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International Declare Victory by David Katz October 28, 2010 Afghanistan is another bleeding sore on the American body politic. Like Iraq, it is a country that wants to be left alone to do its thing uninterrupted by foreigners. In the case of Afghanistan, as in Iraq, its thing is feudin', fussin' and fightin', with economic corruption and religious fundamentalism thrown in. Unlike Iraq, there was a actually a justification for our military presence. We had two goals in mind: to kill or capture Osama bin Laden and destroy the Taliban that harbored and encouraged him, and to make it clear to the rest of the world that harboring groups that attack the US means the destruction of your government, and indeed your nation. The first goal was frittered away by our Iraqi distraction, although keeping bin Laden on the run was, at least, something. The second goal was achieved within weeks of 9/11. The Taliban government was destroyed, its leaders on the run to Pakistan and elsewhere, and a new government was put in place, all with very little loss of American lives and those of its NATO allies, and with very little loss of Afghani lives as well.
That being the case, why are we still there, with the death toll of allied troops rising and Afghan civilians paying the price as collateral damage, as civilians always do in war? We have the same fantasy in Afghanistan that we had in Iraq, that we can create a Western democracy, complete with separation of mosque and state and equal rights for women, in a place that has different traditions of self-government. We continue to attack the Taliban in their home areas (see goal 2), but our support for a corrupt and ineffective government that barely rules Kabul just makes us more enemies. Our plan seems to be “pour in soldiers with no political plan, and money, with no accountability” and believe that wishing will make it so.
We can no longer afford the costs, in money and lives and recruiting incentives for Al Qaeda. Our economic situation at home is perilous, and the economic right is hammering away at the risks of deficits that they themselves had a major hand in creating. Our supposed puppet head of state is making anti-US, statements, possibly because we are complaining about his corrupt brother. We are killing Taliban left and right, even in their home provinces and across the border in Pakistan, but every civilian we kill in the process generates new resentment of the US, and often new recruits for the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
We have achieved most of our original objectives; the rest is mission creep. We should notify Karzai, the Tribal leaders, the heads of the Afghan army and police and the provincial governors that they have until the end of the year to get their act together. After that they are no longer our problem. We should notify the world that our original goals have been achieved, and remind the governments of the world that we had no territorial ambitions in Afghanistan, and therefore no need to hold territory. And we should make it clear that any other government that knowingly provides a haven to any group that attacks America will likewise be destroyed. Then we should get out and apply our resources at home.
New York Stringer is published by NYStringer.com. For all communications, contact David Katz, Editor and Publisher, at david@nystringer.com