A week from Monday will mark the 18th year of American military operations in Afghanistan. While the conflict started with near unanimous approval, current polling indicates that Americans are divided on whether we should have engaged militarily. A contributing factor may be that national political leaders lack sufficient concern and seriousness on the issue.
President Trump showed a lack of seriousness by saying that he could “wipe Afghanistan off the map” without nuclear weapons and “win the war in a week,” but would rather “not kill 10 million people.” Pity the service members and diplomats who had to explain that to our Afghan partners.
The lack of clarity is evidenced by the comments by the president and many Democratic presidential candidates. They say we should withdraw from Afghanistan. Almost as an aside, they say they’d leave forces behind for counter-terrorism and intelligence purposes. Finally, there is the wishing away of problems by those who want to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan as quickly as possible.
Let’s turn first to immediate withdrawal. Doing so forfeits much of the progress that has been made in the past 18 years, especially for women and minorities in Afghanistan. It creates a death sentence for many of those who supported our efforts. It presents challenges for our allies who have contributed to the mission. It presents a weak hand in negotiating with the Taliban, increasing the likelihood and timing of the persecutions.
Afghanistan produces over three-fourths of the world’s opium. It is the largest producer of hashish. Methamphetamine production is growing exponentially. This is happening with allied military presence. What will happen if we aren’t present? Ultimately, these risks may be worth the cost of leaving, but shouldn’t be wished away.
The president and many presidential candidates say they want to “work with our allies” and withdraw forces with the exception of intelligence and counter-terrorism operations. This makes it sound like there would be a massive drawdown.
The reality is that about half of the American forces there are to train, advise and assist Afghan security forces. About an equal number of forces from 30 other countries are there in the same mission.
If we don’t keep that mission, neither will our allies. If there is no international support, the Afghan forces will struggle more, enabling Al-Qaeda and ISIS-Afghanistan forces already there to expand. That may result in more counter-terrorism operations and American deaths.
Finally, advocates of continuing on our current path need to answer how the situation will change. As mentioned, Afghanistan’s main export is narcotics. Transparency International rates Afghanistan as the ninth most corrupt country out of 180. No one expects Afghanistan’s government to resemble Switzerland. But is it too much to ask that they be more effective at building popular support than the Taliban?
In the past, when we decided to take military action, the nation committed itself to the task.
This nation has not committed itself to this conflict. Our service members and their families have, but not the nation. The nation has pursued the installment plan of minimum payments for minimizing chaos.
We have leaders who put more effort in having us fight each other than our external foes. Future generations have been put in massive debt so that we aren’t inconvenienced now.
This country sent troops to Afghanistan after being attacked 18 years ago. We said we wouldn’t forget. But we haven’t made our presence there a priority.
When your government acts or makes policy, it does so in your name. You, my fellow citizens, own this decision. People will die because of your action or inaction. Own it, and demand clarity from those running for president on both sides before we commit another generation.
