Afghanistan’s Plains & Obama's Policy

Perhaps, before we send more young American soldiers to one of the worst pieces of geography on the planet, we ought to read a little Kipling.  From ‘The Young British Soldier.’

When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains
And the women come out to cut up what remains
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
             And go to your Gawd like a soldier
Go, Go, go like a soldier
A Soldier of the Queen. 

Not very cheery, that.  And perhaps altogether misleading, as it leaves out armored infantry and close air support.  But recommended reading all the same. 

President Obama has announced an apparently muscular policy on Afghanistan.  In a pretty good speech, he lays down the markers.  This juicy bit from the speech, recorded by the New York Times:

I want the American people to understand that we have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future. That is the goal that must be achieved. That is a cause that could not be more just. And to the terrorists who oppose us, my message is the same: we will defeat you.

I think that first line carries a bit of campaign baggage that Obama should have chucked by now.  See my last post.  It serves no purpose to tell people you have a clear and focused goal.  All that counts is to announce one, lay out the path to it, and then follow that path. 

The United States had no reasonable choice but to make war on the Taliban/al Qaeda government in Afghanistan.  They attacked us.  Bush took them out of power.  His invasion of Iraq may have been a mistake, but he largely succeeded in his goals and that laid the groundwork for the present policy.  President Obama would have looked more serious and more presidential if he acknowledged what his predecessor did right.  But the policy he states is clear and, I think, correct. 

It’s a big bit of jerky he is biting off.  Afghanistan is about as isolated, geographically, as a country can be.  Pakistan is a basket case, only the basket holds nuclear weapons.  What happens in the region is vitally important to the civilized world, as the President points out:

[T]his is not simply an American problem – far from it. It is, instead, an international security challenge of the highest order. Terrorist attacks in London and Bali were tied to al Qaeda and its allies in Pakistan, as were attacks in North Africa and the Middle East, in Islamabad and Kabul. If there is a major attack on an Asian, European, or African city, it – too – is likely to have ties to al Qaeda's leadership in Pakistan. The safety of people around the world is at stake.

Very good.  But he might have pointed out how ridiculously bad the world response to the region has been.  While the U.S. was patrolling the skies over Iraq for twelve years, the French, Russians, and probably the Germans were selling arms under the table to Saddam.  Support for American efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq has not been absent, but it has been woefully inadequate. 

The safety of people around the world is indeed at stake, as the President puts it, so maybe it’s time for the rest of the world to step up.  And it isn’t just in this place that world trouble is brewing.  Somalia looks like a combination of The Road Warrior and Pirates of the Caribbean. 

President Bush was blamed for alienating the world.  Candidate Obama was greeted by the rest of the world as a deliverer.  Okay.  Deliver.  Show that you can bring the nation’s behind you in a serious effort to clean out the world’s infected wounds.  If they continue to stand around with their hands in their pockets, well, maybe the problem wasn’t Bush at all. 

Comments

[Mac]

I respect your opinions, however, I continue to support my Commander-in-Chief 110% on this one issue: the Afghanistan War, because it has always been the central fight in the War on Terror and our national security depends upon it. Thank you for letting me voice my strong beliefs on this one. I appreciate it!

[Jared Thompson]

It is my opinion that President Obama is finally doing something right. I have strong beliefs that we should continue to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq. I was worried that by electing a Democrat President, we would be ensuring the pull-out of troops. Glad to see that he is continuing the fight!

[Betty]

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Betty

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[A.I.]

Allowing that you are not stretching to find a way to get a little dig in at Obama, I have been a bit confused by your arguments that phrases like "a clear and focused goal" are "...campaign baggage that Obama should have chucked by now." Perhaps I now understand a basis for your contention.

You have often alluded to the Obama base as being psycophantic by nature--seeing Obama as messianic. No doubt some are/do, but I doubt they account for more than a small minority. And, when it comes to matters of war and peace, many see a war-mongering, military/industrial complex toady behind every bush (note the lower-case b).

Certainly some Obama comments you refer to set him apart from the previous administration, but they are not necessarily a swipe at Bush. They are reassurance to a segment of his base that would abandon him in a heartbeat if they had even an inkling that Afghanistan policy was motivated by anything less than the noblest of goals. And it's not Obama fault that group was none-to-fond of our former President.

[KB]

A.I.:

Having seen a square yard of Obama Adoration at an airport bookstore, I am not convinced that the sycophants are a small minority. I have never seen anything like this before. Granted, Obama made history in a way that no one else ever did, but still...

Again, Obama is constantly telling us that he is not-Bush, even when he continues many of Bush's policies. To be sure, he is indeed reversing other Bush policies. That is what is supposed to happen. I just think its good form for a President to let his policies speak for themselves. The basic problem is that Obama rode to the White House on a dream that politics could be transformed. It can't. Obama's many broken promises tell that story. I don't blame him for that. It's the nature of the game. Sooner or later he is going to have to drop the pretense that he is changing the rules of that game, and be judged on how well he plays it.

Betty:

Thank you very much for your kind comment. I welcome your comments on any post.

Jerad:

I wasn't as worried as you were. I figured that President Obama would be forced to take steps to secure Iraq and Afghanistan, just as a President McCain would have. But I share your sentiments on the issue. Thanks for the comment.

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