I feel like this blog question was made for me. I have been waiting for a question such as this for a long time and you'll have to excuse me if this drags on but I feel this question is one that will determine the fate of the United States in the future as well as the world.
Since the question is "Does having US troops in Afghanistan make us safer?" I will not go into the details that got us there too much. Also I will ignore the human rights implications of leaving and the duties and responsibilities that a nation such as the US have to our people and the people of other nations when we decide to intervene. I will just focus on staying or leaving Afghanistan and its effect on security. The facts are that 9/11 was perpetrated by Al Qaeda who was sheltered in Afghanistan by the Taliban. When asked to hand over those responsible the Taliban refused. The only step left to bring the planners and their supporters to justice was to use military force because of the network that they possessed in the region. Now, with this as a backdrop I will explain how keeping troops there is especially important for our safety. There are two main reasons for this:
1) Forgetting the past and focusing on the current moment the Taliban have made a renewed effort using bases in Pakistan to reclaim lost territory and incite the population to become an insurgency against the US. In tactical terms we are on the offense militarily while the Taliban who have made various offensives in the region are still in the grand scheme of things on defense. Since we are in their backyard attacking them, they do not have the time or the stability necessary to plan attacks on our homeland. If we were to switch to defense and move out of Afghanistan we would hand them back a safe haven with which Al Qaeda could move back in, get on the offense, and attack us on our turf. By keeping them busy with defense and disrupting their networks they can not plan and attack us in any organized fashion. These are the basics of attack and defense in military terms. This is why giving out time lines is a horrible and self-destructive tactic. For one, you give the troops fighting in the region the impression that no matter what their struggles, victories, and defeats, that we will leave at this date. It hurts morale greatly. Also, if you are the Taliban or Al Qaeda a timeline gives away the intent of your enemy. If I was a Taliban leader I would tell my troops to lay low until a year or two after the timeline passes giving time for the US to believe they have succeeded and pullout. Once they are gone I would have my troops activated, move into the population centers, take over, and punish those who cooperated with the US, consolidating my power.
2) Perhaps the most important reason we should stay committed and not give up on Afghanistan in our image and its relation to our security. As I discussed in an earlier blog it started with Vietnam. We started a war and didn't finish it. Not because it was not winnable, but we lost the will to fight. After the "Black Hawk Down" incident in Somalia Clinton pulled out having started something and not finishing it. We again lost the will to fight. Osama seeing this began to see a pattern of weakness in US foreign affairs. He tried to provoke us with the Khobar towers, the African embassies, and the USS Cole attacks. We did next to nothing to punish Al Qaeda for these acts of war upon us. 9/11. Finally we woke up and did something about it. Nine years later the public has gone back to normal life and forgotten about much of what was going on in Afghanistan until recently. Bin Laden has succeeded in drawing us into war. He believes us weak and that we will run in defeat at the first sign of death and destruction. Now that we are engaged in this struggle how we react now will tell everything about our image. Are we going to validate him and his tactics by allowing him to succeed with our retreat from the battleground of our time? Afghanistan is a war of ideals. Will terrorism, radicalism, brutality, and evil, (yes I'm going to use that word because I believe that people who kill, maim, and torture innocent civilians are in fact evil) be allowed to prevail or will the US and the coalition that supports us with righteous views of human decency, fairness, and equality triumph? The outcome will determine if the the US keeps its status as a hegemony or not. If we are able to win in Afghanistan and on the war on terror we will show the world we are able to adapt to changing conditions and triumph in the diffused, globalized world. If we can not win and we give up, we admit that we can not effectively protect our interests and bring to justice those who wish to do us harm in today's world. This will open us up to new attacks from various terrorist organizations who will not believe our commitment to causes and terrorism will be used again and again against the US and our allies because they have seen it work before. Rogue states like Iran and North Korea will not believe we have the capability to impact them for doing things against that which the U.N. desires.
The World will end up losing the "World's policeman." Think of the effect of this on the world. If there were no police what would happen? Can we expect everyone to behave and work together without an authority? I don't think so. The world will become much more dangerous for everyone including the United States. Isolationism in our history has failed for a reason. It doesn't protect you from foreign threats and if we are focused on security we need to realize this more than ever.
Bottom Line: Don't leave Afghanistan!
Not that I don't agree with you, Rowland, because we all know I am complete favor of a strong American military presence internationally, and I am a staunch advocate of "preemptive engagement." But, you use the term "evil" and it does strike a negative chord in my ear. A better term is just, simply "threat" or "anti-American." Because what is "evil?" And by whose standards are we judging? Be careful with moralism or altruism. They're both highly irrational and deterimental to our security and grand strategy. I mean, if anyone could be legitimately classified as evil, Osama would be at the top of my list, but still, that word is easy manipulated and has no logic bases for proof. A better phrase to use is "against U.S. interest."
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ReplyDeleteRowland, you say “I believe that people who kill, maim, and torture innocent civilians are in fact evil.” What about the numerous innocent civilians in Afghanistan who are killed by AMERICAN forces every day? If your definition of evil includes the killing of innocent civilians, then wouldn’t U.S. troops fit into this category? You might differentiate the situation and say something like “the ends justify the means because we are fighting for a purpose,” but would the results really make it worth all of the innocent deaths when it’s only putting a “band-aid” on the situation and not even fixing the root of the issue?
ReplyDeleteYou also refer to the U.S. as having “righteous views of human decency, fairness and equality” and speak of being able to “win in Afghanistan” to “show the world we are able to adapt to changing conditions and triumph in the diffused, globalized world.” Is our status everything? What does winning the war mean? If it means eradicating terrorism…then what happens after? It’s likely that the Taliban strength will reemerge unless we address the grassroots of the problem. I spoke about this in two previous posts and if you have a chance to read them, here are the links- I’d love to hear your response.
http://noceilingswp.blogspot.com/2010/11/addressing-root-cause.html
http://noceilingswp.blogspot.com/2010/11/acknowledging-perspectives.html
Basically, I point out the need to consider where the Taliban force comes from. It stems mainly from a lack of education. In Muslim societies, there are “madrassas” which are religious schools; many madrassas are extremist and teach militant ideology. When boys graduate from madrassas, they often go off on a “jihad” or “holy war.” Before a young boy can go off on a jihad, he must receive the blessing of his mother. If you educate the women of a Muslim society then they will be less likely to send their children off on a jihad. In short, literacy prevents the growth of Taliban force. I bring this up because I believe that what is more important than preserving American identity and protecting our interests is global peace and in order to reach peace in this situation, we need to stop being so concerned with war and turn our attention to addressing the origin of the problem.