Gen. Stanley McChrystal's talent for broadcasting his innermost feelings to the world at large is the least of President Obama's problems in Afghanistan. In the face of rapidly rising violence throughout the country, Obama needs to decide how quickly to withdraw U.S. troops from the country.
Here are five reasons why Obama should end the Afghan war sooner rather than later:
1. Karzai hasn't changed since he fudged his re-election last year. Counterinsurgency only succeeds if you're working in support of a government capable of gaining public trust. Afghan President Hamid Karzai does not lead such a government. A network of well-connected strongmen, most prominently the president's brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, still run the show in Afghanistan, and remain as unpopular among Afghans as ever. And Karzai's police force, underfunded and demoralized due to widespread graft among its upper echelons and staffed with officers who shake down Afghan civilians to supplement their wages, is utterly incapable of securing the country. In sum, the Afghan president has given NATO no compelling reason to keep writing him blank checks.
2. Early withdrawal means less cash for the Taliban. A recent report from Congress lends credence to something NATO insiders have been saying for weeks—U.S. tax dollars are flowing into the Taliban's coffers. Apparently, this is how it works: the Pentagon hires Afghan shipping companies to transport goods across the country. These companies then subcontract security for these convoys to local warlords, who in turn provide security by bribing the Taliban not to attack them. They then use whatever cash they have left to bribe the Taliban to attack convoys they aren't guarding, so as to persuade shippers to hire them next time. Since the Pentagon seems unable to prevent this from happening while U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, a withdrawal seems to be the only way to block off this Taliban revenue stream.
3. Washington wouldn't have to defend drug lords at the UN anymore. Over 30,000 Russians die each year because of opiates, 90% of which come from Afghanistan. But when Russia called on the UN Security Council to launch a crackdown on the Afghan opium trade, the United States, along with other NATO countries on the Council, quickly poured cold water on the idea. Spraying Afghan farmers' opium crops, they said, would alienate farmers and in doing so undermine McChrystal's counterinsurgency strategy.
4. Sticking around won't stop Pakistan from slipping aid to the Taliban. Despite the Pakistan government's protestations to the contrary, evidence is mounting that its intelligence service, in a bid to maximize Islamabad's influence in Afghanistan and entice militants to halt their attacks in Pakistan, is supplying covert aid to the Taliban and other Afghan militant groups. Even a massive, open-ended surge won't crush the Taliban as long as its operatives can scurry across the Pakistan border any time they need more ammunition and recruits. Instead, Washington should slash its military aid to Pakistan and restore it only when its government cuts all of its ties to the Taliban.
5. The rest of NATO won't be in Afghanistan much longer. Canada, which has been Washington's key ally in Kandahar, will be out by 2011. Britain will likely withdraw soon after, along with most of NATO's European contingent. If Obama does not synch his withdrawal with his allies', it won't be long before America finds itself alone in Afghanistan.
We can't pretend that an early American withdrawal won't have consequences for Afghanistan. But it's difficult to see how U.S. forces can avoid these consequences as long as the Afghan government remains unwilling to clean up its act, and as long as Pakistan's intelligence service remains committed to propping up militant groups.
This is why President Obama should stick to his plan to start withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan in 2011, and finish withdrawing soon after.
"What's wrong with this new Obama strategy? For one thing, in some areas the local Pashtun population has instead turned out to fight against the foreign invaders, side by side with the Taliban (who, it should be remembered, are mostly local Pashtuns).
"They're as fed up as anybody with the puppet Karzai. Like millions of other Afghans, they say Karzai has done nothing for the people. But saddled with history, Karzai remains the horse the U.S. rode in on.
"I've come back to the Afghan capital again, after an absence of two years, to find it ruined in a new way. Not by bombs this time, but by security.The heart of the city is now hidden behind piles of Hescos giant, grey sandbags produced somewhere in Great Britain. They're stacked against the walls of government buildings, U.N. agencies, embassies, NGO offices, and army camps (of which there are a lot) -- and they only seem to grow and multiply…What's called security generates fear..."
http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1765&Itemid=234
The time for military action in Afghanistan was after 9/11. Instead. Bush & Cheney lied the nation into war in Iraq in order to secure cheap oil -- which didn't work and bankrupted our treasury.
Our leaving will be heinous. Our staying will be worse.
But we shouldn't be staying just so armchair generals who want tax cuts for the wealthy without making any sacrifices themselves can wave an American flag.
There is no point of being strong if we aren't smart with our forces.
Britain and the Russians next door (not to mention Gengis Kahn) couldn't control this place. Only arrogance and a sense of entitlement could fool us into thinking we could.
this is another vietnam in the making.
maybe this time we will learn our lessons.
but I doubt it we still hunger for that super power status. enough is never enough.
it is part of our ego culture.
we cannot give it up; it is like asking the bully on the block to give up being the bully.
he or she has to be brought to their knees.
afghan, iraq, vietnam and future involvements in these civil wars will bring america to its economic knees.
we are borrowing and printing money to keep this ego centered super power status intact.
it is an american egotistical thing based on power and greed and both power and greed will cause a nation to self destruct morally and economically.
this was not a religious statement as religion is much of the problem.
our god is better than your god mindset.
the second most corrupt nation on earth (afghan) will bring america to its economic knees.
this is occuring now but americans in their pride refuse to see the self destruction happening all around them. instead they blame individuals.
we have proven once again what history tells us that the universe is not kind to imperialist nations.
720 military bases around the world and a trillion dollar military budget is the very defintion of imperialism but yet americans are blind to their imperialism.
Join the Small Changes Project: Nickel and Dime.
The Vietnam war ended when enough Americans had changed their minds and had seen that war as senseless and wrong.
Small changes.
Post 5 antiwar messages (5-10 words) each day wherever you normally post. Ask 5 friends to help, and to ask 5 more each.
Nickel and dime.
President Obama has to be shaken to the core by the McChrystal flareup. He may even be reconsidering the war itself.
Now is the time, Antiwar!
Beat the drums.
Our troops are dying for nothing.
Bring them home.
Stop the killing in Afghanistan.
All the more reason to keep the pressure on.
* take 1/3 of what we're spending on the war to give all vet's the medical care they've earned; PTSD and TBI are rampant and will haunt us for a generation or more if not dealt with now;
* take another 1/3 to pay for extending UI benefits to those who've lost their jobs due to criminal fraud by the "financial services" industry'
* use the final 1/3 to pay down the Bush era debt.
Build some hospitals and schools, provide road building and farming equipment, plus some land mine sweepers, and let them find their own natural leadership.