Our Best Way Forward in Afghanistan is Out

After eight years of war, a serious debate about the role of the U.S. military in Afghanistan is taking place in Washington - finally. The White House has begun deliberations about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, centering on a request by Gen. McChrystal, the top American and NATO commander there, for an expanded counterinsurgency campaign that will require more U.S. troops.

That there is even a debate over what course to take demonstrates we have yet to learn lessons from the past 30 years in Afghanistan. If President Obama ignores those lessons, he risks losing the fragile international good will that currently exists and makes matters worse for the Afghan people, their neighbors in Pakistan, and eventually Americans.

In the late 1970s, as its part of the Cold War, the U.S. began what became the largest covert CIA operation in history, arming and financing Islamist resistance forces, funneling billions through the Pakistani Intelligence Service. When the Soviet troops withdrew and the Soviet Union disintegrated we "cut and ran." We withheld development assistance and aid critical to revitalizing Afghan institutions. Afghans call that period the "lost years" when the Taliban seized control of Kabul and gave al-Qaeda a safe haven.

After the Soviet withdrawal, the Afghan people suffered a brutal civil war for 11 years, fueled by those, including warlords, armed by both the U.S. and Pakistan. The battle over Kabul emptied the city, one quarter of the population fled to Iran and Pakistan as refugees, malnutrition rates skyrocketed, and the collapse of any nationwide government structure complicated efforts to provide any relief. The international community did little to help. Afghanistan turned into the world's largest humanitarian disaster.

Afghans suffer the impact of that history today. The 2001 U.S./U.K. invasion employed some of the same warlords as allies in overthrowing the Taliban and controlling the country. The recent presidential elections in Afghanistan saw widespread corruption, an embrace of warlords, and vote rigging mostly attributed to supporters of President Karzai. Many Afghans are outraged that individuals accused of major human rights violations continue to serve with impunity in the U.S.-backed government.

Three decades of foreign intervention in Afghanistan has failed the Afghan people. It also has made the rest of the world more insecure. The U.S. cannot undo this legacy with half measures or engaging with a specific set of "allies" again. What both Afghans and Americans deserve is a full, public discussion of the policy choices looming in the next weeks. We must choose to demonstrate a commitment to the rule of law, not violence, as the most important foundation for real security.

We will not achieve that goal with a "better" occupation, more troops, or more weapons. The answer will not be found with the tools of counterinsurgency featuring covert special operations, extra-judicial killings and the increased use of drones. We should not arm the "right" set of warlords and militia. Instead, we should help Afghans to include all stakeholders in a transparent, fair political process which is key to a reduction of violence in Afghanistan. Most importantly, we must institute a military withdrawal.

Far from "abandoning" Afghanistan again, a withdrawal is only the first step toward a serious campaign of sustained support for Afghanistan's people as they rebuild.

While most Americans do not support a further buildup in U.S. forces, there is, as yet, little support for providing billions in real repair and assistance funds that must be provided even as troops are withdrawn. To once again abandon Afghanistan will be a tragedy for us all - Americans and Afghans.

 

 

Comments

[Oldsop]

It does no good to water a seed which is laying on concrete.

It will also do no good to send money and infrastructure to Afganistan if there is no security; if you can’t walk the streets safely; etc. Any wealth we send will be confiscated by the bad guys.

We must use overwhelming force to stop the resistance once and for all; establish a new baseline; then turn over the nation to its people as we have done in Iraq.

[Balzac]

Karzai needs to open a diplomatic channel with a Taliban leader. I read that Baitullah Mehsud had something to do with the assassination of Benizir Bhutto. If that's true, he was one who needed to be captured or killed, and he was killed.

Then there was Hakimullah Mehsud. I don't know what his deal was, but he was killed soon after, not sure under what circumstances.

How can the "Taliban" be brought into the process if their leaders keep getting killed? Even the Confederacy still had General Lee to surrender on their behalf. If General Lee had been killed, who would have been able to tell the confederate troops that the war was over?

There must be a leader among the "Taliban" whom President Karzai can negotiate with in the manner Nuri al Maliki has negotiated with Muqtada al Sadr (with the help of intermediaries such as Ayatollah Sistani and perhaps Talibani).

If there is no diplomatic engagement, the Afghan is a distributed and headless resistance force like Hamas with no leader with whom a truce or treaty can be arranged.

[Senzasord]

Once again I am reminded of the last scene of the movie "War Games" where the master firing control computer exclaims, "What a curious game this is. The only winning move is not to play."

Lyndon Johnson's machismo kept us in Vietnam because he wasn't going to be the first U.S. president to lose a war. Our country was injured for a generation. Mr. Obama, learn from history so we don't have to repeat it.

[larry278]

An immediate departure of US forces from Iraq & Afghanistan would prevent the US having to cut & run when our opponents won. The helicopter evacuation of the US Embassay(sic?) is a reminder of what will happen if Pres Obama keeps fighting the wars he bought from W.
Could or should the USA's armed forces be rebuilt after being eviscerated & an unduly hasty run from Iraq & Afghanistan? If we don't send more troops into the messes & we bring the troops now in Iraq & Afghanistan home as soon as possible, as in at once, we can cut our losses. The governments which we support in Afghanistan & Iraq are doomed to fail. "Nation building" isn't the USA's forte.
Surprise, a lot of people & nations don't want to become clones of us.
It isn't a matter of face saving; it's a matter of ending the violence in failed wars. The USA has a record of backing the wrong & worst sides in civil wars. Does anyone recall Viet Nam? Neither side was endowed with virtue. Gen Giap & Uncle Ho won for they were the lesser of 2 evils.

[wemustwewill]

On Monday October 5, World Can't Wait joined with Cindy Sheehan and others from
National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, Witness Against Torture, Activist
Response Team, Vets for Peace, Code Pink in a protest of about 500 people in front
of the White House. Former Colonel Ann Wright and Medea Benjamin joined us directly
from a flight back from Afghanistan and spoke about the conditions there.

Join us in responding to Obama's surge of troops to Afghanistan by fueling a surge
of resistance that will reignite and build a movement to stop the death and
destruction unleashed on the people of the Middle East.

We are beginning to see more people openly object to the US occupation and your help
and money is needed in order to change sentiments into visible resistance. What we
need is a surge of resistance. Join us in the streets Tuesday and Wednesday in
righteous protest against these continuing crimes.

Whether or not you can join us in the streets, please donate today towards our goal
of $5,000 in 48 hours. This is actually the most crucial political act you can make
right now. Support us at worldcantwait.org

[jhamm1]

"When the Soviet troops withdrew and the Soviet Union disintegrated we "cut and ran." We withheld development assistance and aid critical to revitalizing Afghan institutions."

With all due respect, this seems like a contradiction to yours (and our) current message, as if implying that we should have resorted to "nation building" then, as opposed to now.

I feel that we should leave Afghanistan as soon as possible and leave this perpetually feudal society to figure its own way out, but I am sick and tired of implications that the United States was somehow indebted to Afghanistan after assisting them in overthrowing the Soviet occupation.

Who helped who in that regard? WE helped THEM, not the other way around. Therefore, while it would have been nice to lend what financial assistance we could have to allow them to rebuild their nation, at the end of the day, we didn't owe them ANYTHING.