The U.S. strategy is "clear, hold and build." Clear? Taliban forces can evaporate and then return, confident that U.S. forces will forever be too few to hold gains. Hence nation-building would be impossible even if we knew how, and even if Afghanistan were not the second-worst place to try: The Brookings Institution ranks Somalia as the only nation with a weaker state.
It may be a horribly overused quote, but in this case it's true: Those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it. Afghanistan's destiny seems to be proving the wisdom of Santayana's dictum. What the British and the Soviets couldn't do, America is now trying to accomplish. Judging by what's transpired over the past eight years, it's beginning to look like deja vu all over again.
I'm going to agree with George Will when he asserts that it's time for America to pull out of Afghanistan. I'm not agreeing with him because I think "Obama's war" is a prescription for failure. Barack Obama inherited this war, just as he did the war in Iraq. His "failure" can and should be laid directly at the feet of George W. Bush, even though most Right-wing pundits would have us believe that Barack Obama invaded both Iraq AND Afghanistan.
I'm old enough to remember growing up during the Vietnam War. I remember watching as more and more Americans came home in boxes as we became progressively more enmeshed in supporting a corrupt and inept government. After a certain point, our involvement in Vietnam became less about "victory" than about saving face and not losing. My fear is that an argument could be made that we're rapidly heading down the same road in Afghanistan. Why must we commit and sacrifice American blood and treasure for a corrupt, inept govenment that really only (just barely) controls the capitol city of Kabul? What (really) is our interest in Afghanistan? Is there a goal? A mission? Or are we simply trying to avoid being on the losing side...without having a clear idea of what "victory" would look like?
Initially, the war in Afghanistan was about 9.11. It was about chasing down those responsible and bringing justice to their doorstep. At some point, well before Barack Obama was elected, the war stopped being about fighting al-Qaeda and finding Osama bin-Laden and became about...well, I'm not at all certain what. It seems as if we're now in Afghanistan because we feel that we "broke" it and so we should "fix" it. Nation building was not part of the original mission, and I'm not at all certain it should be in Afghanistan. To call the country ungovernable would hardly be a stretch. Indeed, calling Afghanistan a "country" may overly optimistic. How are we to "fix" something that's beyond repair and only really exists as an abstract concept to begin with?
What disturbs me is that, in assuming ownership of George W. Bush's war, President Obama continues to escalate the American commitment. I heard Daniel Schorr argue yesterday that he's seen this situation before, when Lyndon B. Johnson inherited JFK's war in Vietnam. Johnson could have cut our losses and brought American troops home. Instead, Johnson decided that if America was in for a penny, we were in for a pound. More than 50,000 dead Americans later, we left with our metaphorical tail between our legs...and to this day we continue to deal with the legacy of Vietnam.
When George Will and other Right-wing pundits begin beating the drums for withdrawal, it should be done because this war can't be won in a military sense- NOT because it's Obama's fault. Our current President didn't start this war, nor did he thoroughly mismanage the conduct of it...yet. He does have it within his power to end the failure before we head further down a very familiar path. Referring to something as "this generation's Vietnam" is quickly becoming the equivalent of repeatedly shouting "FIRE!" in a crowded theater. My fear is that, right about the time we stop paying attention, this analogy will turn out to be true. Americans will continue to fight and die...and for what?
Those who don't understand history really ARE condemned to repeat it...and I'd really thought we were smarter than this.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
