Decisions by Ira Schwartz

“Indecision is a virus that can run through an army and destroy its will to win or even to survive.” Wendell Mayes

It’s been eight years since our troops first set foot upon Afghani soil. It’s been eight years of fighting and dying. After eight years exactly where do we stand?

Let’s take a quick look at the score card. In 2001 our army managed to literally chase Al-Qaeda out of the country and into the hills of Pakistan and drive the Taliban from power. Today the Taliban again control almost 80% of the country and are driving us back into our strongholds. In 2004 the Afghanis drafted a constitution and elected a president. Today that President, Hamid Karzai, is afraid to leave the security of his palace and is constantly denying charges that his administration is corrupt. P.S. It is. In 2002 the U.S. had approximately 5,200 boots on the ground in Afghanistan. Today we’re closer to 32,000 and our generals say we need more. Before they decide to send more troops or not the present administration wants to “re-evaluate the situation”. Sound familiar? It should. Remember a little place called “Vietnam”?

And therein lays the problem. Despite Korea and Vietnam the powers that run our military machine are still stuck in a World War ll mentality. The enemy must be forced to surrender at all costs. If we look at Korea and Vietnam in that respect then we lost both those wars. However, both South Korea and Vietnam now have strong and stable governments with strong and growing economies. Without our intervention that probably would not have happened.

So what is our strategy in Afghanistan? Why are we there?

If we are there to chase Al-Qaeda out, we did that. To topple the Taliban? We did that too. To win over the minds and hearts of the Afghani people? The Afghani people could care less about who runs their country as long as they are left alone and can grow their poppies and smoke their Hashish in peace. To set up a stable central government? A western style democratic government will never work in that region of the world. To win the war? Who did we go there to fight; Al-Qaeda or the Taliban? We’ve beaten Al-Qaeda; we will never beat the Taliban. Remember the Taliban are Afghani. They exist and live in every city, town and village in their country. The British tried to subdue them in 1838 and 1878 and failed and we all know what happened to the Russians. So where does that leave us? In an endless war we can’t win? Not necessarily.

A strong, credible government does need to be established, if for nothing else than to stop the tribal conflicts and constant infighting. The government needs to be an Afghani government not a bastardised version of our own. The government needs to include all the Afghani people including the Taliban. If we include them into the mix the war stops immediately and the US government gains credibility in the Islamic world. Besides we also get an experienced, well trained army that hates Al-Qaeda as much as we do as an added bonus. Unrealistic you say? Look at Somali.

Our administration now accepts the Somali non-democratic moderate Islamic government. This thaw in our relationship allowed the US to take out an Al-Qaeda agent in Somali suspected of master minding the 2002 bombing of a Kenyan hotel. What did the Somali government due about the US attack? Nothing.

Will this work in Afghanistan? We’ll never know till we try. But I can tell you this, as soon as we pull our troops out the Karzai government will fall and the United States will takes its place in history alongside the British and the Russians as one more invading army that failed.