Richard Haass In Newsweek: Rethink Afghanistan Because Nation Building Is Not Working And We're Not Winning

Politico's Mike Allen reports in his Playbook today that the new issue of Newsweek will feature a major cover story by Richard Haass called "Rethinking Afghanistan: We're not winning. It's not worth it. Here's how to draw down in Afghanistan."

The article is set to be published on Sunday.

Haass, a well-respected voice on foreign affairs who presides over the Council on Foreign Relations, argues that the Afghan war as it's being prosecuted today is indeed a war of President Obama's choosing, playing off the past remarks of RNC chairman Michael Steele that caused a storm of controversy.

In an excerpt obtained by Allen, Haas writes,

GOP chairman Michael ... Steele's critics are the ones who are wrong: the RNC chair was more correct than not on the substance of his statement, if not the politics. The war being waged by the United States in Afghanistan today is fundamentally different and more ambitious than anything carried out by the Bush administration. Afghanistan is very much Barack Obama's war of choice, a point that the president underscored recently by picking Gen. David Petraeus to lead an intensified counterinsurgency effort there. After nearly nine years of war, however, continued or increased U.S. involvement in Afghanistan isn't likely to yield lasting improvements that would be commensurate in any way with the investment of American blood and treasure. It is time to scale down our ambitions there and both reduce and redirect what we do. ... The war the United States is now fighting in Afghanistan is not succeeding and is not worth waging in this way. The time has come to scale back U.S. objectives and sharply reduce U.S. involvement on the ground. Afghanistan is claiming too many American lives, requiring too much attention, and absorbing too many resources. The sooner we accept that Afghanistan is less a problem to be fixed than a situation to be managed, the better.

Neoconservatives, led by Bill Kristol, called on Steele to resign his chairmanship of the RNC after he questioned the mission in Afghanistan and cast the war as largely unwinnable: "The one thing you don't do is engage in a land war in Afghanistan, alright, because everyone who's tried over a thousand years of history has failed."

The Newsweek cover echoes the efforts of Brave New Films. Director Robert Greenwald has been urging the public and policymakers to draw down the Afghan war with a series of video documentaries entitled "Rethink Afghanistan." Scroll down to watch the latest segment.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton headed to Afghanistan today for a conference in Kabul as part of efforts to refine the goals of the war. Worries about the conflict continue to grow as more American and NATO troops pour into the country after nearly nine years of fighting with no end in sight.

The AP reports:

At the Kabul conference, she will renew Washington's commitment to support Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government, but press him to follow through on reform pledges he made earlier this year.

Richard Holbrooke, President Barack Obama's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, has said the conference "will be a very important international demonstration of support" for Karzai and his administration.

But Holbrooke acknowledges concerns that the war and the reconstruction effort are not going as hoped or planned.

He told Congress this past week that "there are significant elements of movement forward in many areas, but I do not yet see a definitive turning point in either direction."

Last month was the deadliest of the war for international forces: 103 coalition troops were killed, despite the infusion of tens of thousands of new U.S. troops.

Comments

[johnjmccarthy]

11:31 AM on 07/27/2010

Victors write history unless and until their treacheries and treason finally see the light of day by authenticated documentation that truly stands the test of time, as in theory. It is the power of belief and intestinal fortitude (moral courage) of maintaining that information against the PTB which truly overturns the haste of fabrication coupled with the once unattainable suppression of exculpatory evidence which compels researchers and scholars to admit their misdiagnosis which further erodes the position of governments, dynasty's and empires. Pearl Harbor and 911 truths stoke the fires of belief that governments are inherently evil led by evil men for evil purposes. Since we are here for but a short time our positions on truth and against tyranny guide us and give strength and momentum to those who follow.

The exposure of 90,000 secret documents about the conduct of the war in Afghanistan is yet another tool for truth. Now that CIA has admitted falsifying the so called 'bin Laden tapes', the primary "justification" for the preemptive attack on Afghanistan lies mute and focuses on what are truly war crimes, Crimes Against Peace and Crimes Against Humanity. The erroneous assertion of the presence of Weapons of Mass Destruction 'theory' also crumbles thereby adding the same war crimes to the preemptive attack on Iraq. All of this takes us back to those who are responsible for the Mass Murder carried out on 911 by those evil men running evil governments for evil purposes. That is truly undeniable.

Bests,
John

[kosolm]

02:37 AM on 07/20/2010

Its not the people who need to rethink this policy,it is congress and the white house,and they
seem to have their minds made up.I find it hard to believe that the neocons,who are hell bent
on keeping us in perpetual war,are so influential on those that can stop war.Republican representatives,seem to be intent on prolonging this war,while beating the drums to start new
ones.The Dems either are too afraid of looking week and wont vfote to cut off funding for these
misadventures,and the biggest disappointment is Obama (who I voted for,not expecting to keep
the same policies of Bush)and no matter what you hear this is Obamas war,now

[nicnic]

07:37 PM on 07/19/2010

This is a huge mess and everyone has an opinion on how to fix the world but when it's about securing a job, creating a job, or not getting into a bad real estate deal?... oh well, that's too difficult right?

[richardgordon]

09:49 AM on 07/19/2010

When will American politicians stop wasting American lives and the American Taxpayer's money? Last night I watched 60 minutes interview a General in Afghanistan who suggested that it would take 15 more years to stabilise Afghanistan! How many more trillions of dollars is America going to waste prosecuting useless wars in far flung reaches of the planet before they wake up and realise that they realise they are spending the country broke. Ironically it is the Republican Party which seems the most hell bent on prosecuting this war. (But the Democrats are no better.) On the one hand they take the Obama administration to task for out of control government spending but on the other hand they are perfectly happy to see the government wast trillions of dollars on wars that have very little rational purpose. The only point I can see to these wars is to keep the war machine going and the profits of the defence contractors spinning in perpetuity. General Eisenhower's prescient warning about the dangers of the "vast military industrial complex" have come true. There seems no way of stopping this monster from consuming the American economy. Its like the mafia milking the economy until it is utterly broke and unable to continue any longer. American citizens need to stand up and stop this madness.

[progressiveposter]

02:30 AM on 07/19/2010

"I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class thug for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902–1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents."

There is nothing new whether its in Honduras, Iraq or Afganistan. Its all about money. It will never change. Our country cannot see the facts because of the propaganda.

[richardgordon]

09:53 AM on 07/19/2010

I'm afraid you have got that one right.

[liberalbug]

02:23 AM on 07/19/2010

We don't need to rethink Afghanistan,, we need to leave. Enough said.

[Garspies]

02:01 AM on 07/19/2010

This war was over/lost when Bush let Osama go at Tora Bora.

[Hassan shoja]

02:35 AM on 07/19/2010

So why Obama keeps beating a dead horse.

There is no point, to increase the troops, shower them with money, give them local governance, give them weapons etc.

USSR with $500,000 well trained soldiers with direct supply line from Russia(USSR) had tried all of these methods during 8 years, nothing helped.

Just find a few of these Red Army retired generals and phone them up to see what they tell you.

I know what they tell you,

Hey man:

"You could give us 1% of the money you have spent there to me, so I could tell you stories about these little devils that you would never dare to put your feet over there.

Each year will be worse than the year before until you lose all your hopes to come out alive and then your soldiers start to commit suicide and no place even the bases will be safe anymore .....
"

Red Army did not withdraw, they cut and run.

[Garspies]

03:02 AM on 07/19/2010

I'm going to go way out on a limb here ang guess that your post means that you agree with my statement.

[lonngfello]

11:22 AM on 07/19/2010

Bush and company did not finnish the job in Tora Bora becuase they were intent on going into Iraq. With Bin Laden dead or captured the excursion into Iraq would have been much more difficult and maybe never would have happened at all.

[sixpm]

09:12 AM on 07/24/2010

Sometimes something is posted here which gives a sudden and deep insight into the reality of things. Your comment is one of them.

Fanned.

[jsgaetano]

02:00 AM on 07/19/2010

Everyone except the lunatic fringe realized George Dubai Bush lost both wars a long time ago.

[flabingo]

01:48 AM on 07/19/2010

Let us all be clear "THIS IS OBAMA'S WAR"
1. We do not have the money to fight this war.
2. To borrow the 100 billion dollars each year from China to pay for this war is wrong.
3. To fight insurgents with conventional forces is wrong
4..If we had a DRAFT WITHOUT DEFERMENTS, this war would be over.
5. To think that a man trained as a constitutional lawyer would be qualified to be Commander-In -Chief of the most powerful military nation in the history of mankind is wrong.
6. The fact that Robert Gates is Secretary of Defense is wrong. He is in charge of sending out a questionaire about gays serving in the military and has set a deadline of December to figure it out. . Absurd!
7 What better way is there for creating terrorists than have drone attacks killing innocent people,?
8. The Republicans have gotten ahead of the conversation about questioning the positive outcome of this stupid war.
9. It is time for congress to step up and stop funding because Obama "Simply does not get it"
10. The first 30 days after the Gulf oil spill Obama quietly made four fundraising trips to California, before he visited the gulf. Talk about priorities!
If someone asked me if I missed George H.W Bush, the answer is yes. He went into Iraq accomplished his mission, and got out.

[nicnic]

07:28 PM on 07/19/2010

ok, although you are wrong I'll say yes to humor your false argument.
"So yes, All you said is right.Now... what?"
oh, yeah, you have to convince all the generals to pull out. A President is a President, not a God, or your personal God/Butler.
If America is still there it is because Americans, and American interests are at stake there still.
It's because the President to the will of the people, institutions and powers around him.
So what now?
This is a huge mess and everyone has an opinion on how to fix the world but when it's about securing a job, creating a job, or not getting into a bad real estate deal?... oh well, that's too difficult right?

[JedG]

10:27 PM on 07/19/2010

Had to respond to "flabingo." Stop withholding valuable information.

What mission did he accomplish in Iraq and when?

Did we win the Iraq conflict? Last I knew the fat lady was still singing?

FYI: Richard Haass wrote:

"George W. Bush inherited a robust economy, a budgetary surplus, a rested military, and, even after 9/11, a world largely at peace and well-disposed toward the United States. He handed off to his successor a recession, a massive deficit and debt, a stretched and exhausted military, two wars, and a world marked by pronounced anti-Americanism. I am hard-pressed to find another set of back-to-back presidential transitions in which so many of the basic features of the domestic and international landscapes changed so dramatically for the worse. The Iraq war of course cannot be blamed for all of this, but it absorbed a great deal of this country's resources and, as a consequence, contributed significantly to the deterioration of the absolute and relative position of the United States in the world. It is quite possible history will judge the war's greatest cost to be opportunity cost, the squandering by the United States of a rare and in many ways unprecedented opportunity to shape the world and the nature of international relations for decades to come. Instead, Iraq contributed to the emergence of a world in which power is more widely distributed than ever before and U.S. ability to shape this world much diminished. "

[sixpm]

09:14 AM on 07/24/2010

Fanned and favorited.

[Ahurani]

01:27 AM on 07/19/2010

Guerrilla warfare has NEVER been successfully carried out when an occupying force comes up against the entrenched guerrilla locals. Even Alexander the Great failed in India under the very same circumstances. You either have to level the place, accepting the ire of the world by killing off civilians along with the local guerrilla force, or you have just admit it's a war you simply can't win and quit throwing money and lives at it. This is exactly how we ended up evacuating from Vietnam after lost of billions of dollars and many, many lives. Only fools fail to learn from history.

[nicnic]

07:33 PM on 07/19/2010

sadly you seem to be right.
war is WAR. We should all submit to the daily sacrifices of a real war, like hard core rationing in WW2 [a war which we won]. Instead of writing philosophy about war in a Starbucks setting. Be ready to accept the consequences, all at war, reset the draft, drop the bomb, real sacrifice. But talking? ... in that case maybe we should pull out.

[disintaGreatNation]

12:27 AM on 07/19/2010

The list of things Uncle Sam should rethink is a long one. If you're going in alphabetical order, okay, start with Afghanistan.

[wwoody]

12:15 AM on 07/19/2010

It long over due, declare victory and bring our troops home.

[Tyler James Lee]

12:07 AM on 07/19/2010

There is only one military strategy that can achieve "victory" in Afghanistan: it's called the Ghengis Strategy, and worked fine on us Ukranians back in the old days...You just "kill them all and let god sort them out"... But of course I'm assuming (and this may be wrong) that the American people would reject such an insane approach, be horrified at the prospect... Short of that we can't "win", have nothing TO "win". And don't take the word of anyone in the military bureaucracy about it: the agenda of the officer class is different, and their ideology different, from that of the working class, and they don't owe us the truth...

[olivia]

12:04 AM on 07/19/2010

It's not working because it was a wrong war in the first place - because Bush never should have invaded Afghanistan.

19 of the hijackers were Saudis.

[Tunde15]

11:51 PM on 07/18/2010

You mean Haas, Mr. CFR, doesn't like the way the war is going? I'm shocked. Richard, do you have a child of your fighting this stupid war? I bet you don't. I don't like the war either, and never like it. You seem not to like because it's not going well.