All eyes on Afghanistan. Obama has authorized deployment of 13,000 more troops.
Although I haven’t seen the film yet, I plan to see Rethink Afghanistan as soon as I get a free moment. It has been said that wars are necessary to secure a lasting peace, eight years in, I’ve got too many questions unanswered.
Time to think differently.
UPDATE.
I think Frank Rich’s column covered most of my concerns and objections to the escalation. The same congress that voted to divert resources from Afghanistan to pursue the threat of ‘weapons of mass destruction’ in Iraq, is responsible for the hot dusty mess in Afghanistan. I’m not a paid policy wonk on this, but I’ve maintained this position in private conversations with friends over the years that Afghanistan suffered from benign neglect. And that neglect has allowed the Taliban to seize control over the region and the years have taken its toll on our soldiers and the Afghan population. I understood why we went there in the first place, but our mission was muddled. We can topple regimes, but can we build nations?
Civil society can thrive with infrastructure. There’s no infrastructure in Afghanistan. There are barely roads that lead from mountainous terrain to towns, or cities. I’m not even sure how they’re able to gain access to water. Water is an under-reported political issue. I can only imagine that the geopolitical interests of powerful men who control these small provinces and villages have huge sway over people to secure their cooperation with Taliban leaders. It’s evident that to untangle the grip of Taliban has over Afghanistan will require more than 13,000 American soldiers that may have already served multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan to date.
McChrystal’s assessment of the foothold of the insurgency aside, what are we going to do after that? What are we going to do to preserve the peace? The State Department was severely underfunded during the Bush Administration, a significant partner in preserving any military gain we make in any conflict we’re engaged in. And for those of us who believe that stability magically happens with a wave of a pen or at the barrel of the gun fail, it’s time to recognize that peace also comes from the hard work of civilians it takes to repair or build civil society. I’m remembering a scene in Charlie Wilson’s War, where Tom Hanks as Charlie Wilson presented a plan where our government had denied his request to fund school construction in villages in Afghanistan after we supplied copious resources to the Afghanis to help them drive out the Soviet army.
Obama’s Nobel Prize win presents the obvious paradox. How can he escalate a conflict and still be honored with the highest award in the world? Simultaneously, the global recognition of an American leader that’s asking the world to be accountable in their own fate is crucial. And on the heels of that recognition, will the Afghan people secure their own future and achieve a lasting peace without a civil war? How do we in the West support a people’s desire in self-determination?
And I’m still left asking the most important question, how can we be the change we wish to see in the world?
