WHY ARE WE IN AFGANHISTAN AND HOW LONG MUST WE STAY?

America has now been in Afganhistan longer than any other conflict in our entire history. The question about why we are there and how long we must stay is something about which The TerryReport will be writing in the coming days. Maureen Dowd has a column in Wednesday’s NY Times (click here) pointing out that even Republicans who once supported the war are turning against it.  (Of course, that is easier for them now that a Democrat is in the White House.)

One other question to be considered is why President Obama, pledged to end both wars he took over in 2009, has not acted more forcefully to bring Afghanistan to a close. Somehow, he was convinced that staying another six long years, until 2014, was the only good option before him.

I have the impression  that the military rolled Obama early in his administration. All presidents are subject to the importuning of the  military brass and they are usually very, very good at it. Look at the surface details: these guys who lead the military are professionals in every sense, they have worked their way up the chain of command by virtue of a system that, in each level along the way, weeds out the weak, the indecisive and the less dedicated. Presidents may well be deeply experienced politicians, but they are generally outnumbered and  outgunned (literally) by the top military brass.

There is another factor (well, many, actually). One is the pull effect of a standing  army. Once you've got it, you want to use it. Second, no matter how  troublesome wars become along the course, the default setting for  military people is always toward action. The only truly strong, flexible and trained army is one engaged in fighting. Promotions are earned, tickets are punched, by action, not by sitting in an office somewhere planning for wars.

Had Obama and company ordered a withdrawal early on, there would have been screaming from the right without end, but we would have been out, surely, by now. Instead, he has to hear shouting from both sides. No one is happy. Last Sunday John McCain was on Meet the Press talking about how he thinks the timetable is being rushed with a pull out scheduled for 2014. I kept waiting for him to define what “victory” would mean in Afganhistan, but I never heard it. He argued that Obama had made a mistake by not committing 10,000 more troops to the “surge” earlier in his administration, but he didn’t specify what was left undone.

How can the Taliban  be defeated? How would we know when it occurred? In the end, the country belongs to its own people and they will be there a 1,000 yrs. and more  after  we've gone. Any time the US goes into someone else’s country to try to resolve matters that they have not been able to settle themselves, we have to realize that our role and our stake in the country are both limited by the fact that we live here, not there and their concerns are permanent, ours temporary. Eventually, we have to come home. If the US can push the Taliban into near non-existence, and that certainly is in doubt, that is no clear assurance of winning a longer term victory.

3.21.12
 

  Photography from Guatemala, Maryland, Italy and elsewhere by Doug Terry

BIKE TRAILS IN THE DC AREA