The last time the Democrats ran a war, it was "Madeleine's war" when we bombed Serbia. For the Global Viewpoint Network, former secretary of state Madeleine Albright weighs in on Obama's deliberations on Afghanistan. Here is an excerpt:
Nathan Gardels: A big debate is raging in the Obama administration between those who seek a troop increase and nation-building strategy in Afghanistan - counter-insurgency - versus those who seek a more narrow counterterrorism strategy focused solely on fighting Al Qaeda and employing drone attacks. Where do you come down?Madeleine Albright: Today's dilemmas, of course, are the result of not paying enough attention to Afghanistan while fighting in Iraq for eight years. So, in a sense, we are starting from scratch there. US national security interests dictate that eliminating Al Qaeda is the primary focus. That means sorting out their relationship with the Taliban and determining what real connection or overlap there is between the two. My own sense is that the lines between the two are very fuzzy - and therefore the lines between counterinsurgency vs. counterterrorism are quite unclear.
Rather than positing these strategies as alternatives, what we need to focus on is not creating more terrorists. On the one hand, if the drone or bombing attacks miss their targets and kill a lot of civilians, that creates animosity and recruits terrorists. On the other hand, if you don't provide security for the Afghan people, they are terrified. Out of fear, they will cooperate with the terrorists.
I do think Obama is doing the right thing by weighing his strategy decision carefully. I've always thought it is better to have a confident president than a certain one. A confident president is comfortable enough in his own capacity for judgment to solicit a broad array of opinions from advisers who might disagree.
Gardels: You do seem to fall on the side of a broader commitment in Afghanistan because you want to establish security and stability as a precondition for getting out.
Albright: Neither the US nor NATO can be responsible for Afghanistan for the rest of our lives. The bottom line is that the Afghans have to be able to operate on their own. But we have to help them get there - training the Afghan Army and police forces, as well as providing reconstruction assistance and a viable governing structure. We need to have this debate now so the American public understands what is at stake. Eight years have been wasted and there is no more time to waste. We've got to chart a course and stick to it.
Elsewhere in the interview, we talked about how Obama's strategy is working on Iran as
well as the distinctive "pin diplomacy" during her time at the UN and in the State Department.
If she were to meet Iranian president Ahmadinejad today, she says, she would wear green
in honor of the pro-democracy movement in Iran.
The full interview can be found on the Christian Science Monitor.