Moving Beyond War in Afghanistan
By Winslow Myers
The challenge of helping Afghanistan while also serving U.S. security goals includes four aspects: first, U.S. fear of more terrorist
attacks mounted from the region, second, fear that other powers, such as Russia or Iran, could assume undue influence, third, the potential use of the territory as a route to move resources such as oil and natural gas, and fourth, U.S. unwillingness to admit that the
application of power may not part of the solution at all.
This last fear may be the deepest one, deeper even than our fear of terrorism. The simplifications of “my country, right or wrong” put
pressure on our officials to be consistent in the direction of more military force. The minute Mr. Obama asks his generals what number of troops “success” will require, he has boxed himself in to a certain line of action. The generals give him a number, and the president becomes less able to challenge the unexamined assumption that Afghanistan is a military problem.
The reason we are, with obvious variations, repeating the Vietnam pattern in Afghanistan is not that we haven’t learned the tactical
lessons. It is that we can’t accept that we are not in charge of the world, and we are not comfortable with questioning our own motives at the deepest level. What constitutes victory, if the mere presence of the American military, however well intentioned, creates a perception of occupation and the pushback that always results? Who anointed us, who have so many challenges at home, to fix the world? If we are so willing in 2009 to repeat what failed in 1969, where will the next place be that we slip into yet another ambiguous regional war?
American soldiers know they are over there because of 9/11 and Al Quaeda, but are they also there to destroy the Taliban? To police the drug trade? To build a nation? To create Western-style political institutions in a tribal context? Are they are being set up to fail,
to preserve the tenuous sense that the U.S. government is doing something constructive to reduce further terrorist attacks?
Conversely, the need to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people is clearly understood by many in the American military who are giving life and limb to create enclaves of security in the region. General Stanley McChrystal on October 1: “We don’t win by destroying the Taliban. We don’t win by body count. We don’t win by the number of successful military raids or attacks, we win when the people decide we win.” This is an extraordinary statement—a military leader essentially admitting that war itself is negligible part of the answer compared to hearts and minds.
Defeat in Vietnam was painful for the United States after the loss of 55,000 soldiers, but the military alternatives had run out. Rather
than spinning out a similar future in Afghanistan, it is surely better to accept the need for a change of policy, even if Obama did campaign on the idea that an Afghanistan was a necessary war. In the case of Al Quaeda, the alternative is good intelligence and police work, in greater cooperation with other countries, including Pakistan if possible. The heroin trade in Afghanistan will not yield to our armies, but it might yield to the possibility that farming less deadly produce can also result in a decent living—and to addressing as best we can the challenge of drug demand in our own country.
We need models that are motivated by compassion and good will rather than just fear of terrorism. One such model is Greg Mortenson’s Central Asia Institute, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that builds schools, mostly for girls, in remote areas of the Af-Pak region. What is it about this particular American that the Afghans trust, such that his projects have the enthusiastic support of the villages he serves?
The United States can replicate this model of directly meeting human needs at a tiny fraction of the expense of wagingwar. Instead of
trying to control everything, including the Afghan government itself, we could ask local people what their needs are and try to provide them in such a way that their sense of us as occupiers is minimized. In the long term, because the means are congruent with the ends, this model will lessen support for extremism, increase national cohesion and stability, and keep other regional players at bay. It could accomplish everything we presently think we need to do militarily, and it could do it without the hellish destruction that the Afghans have endured for so long.
Winslow Myers serves on the Board of Beyond War and is the author of the recently published book, “Living Beyond War: A Citizen’s Guide.”
Why do we live in fear? I
Why do we live in fear? I know I do not !!! If you live in fear and constant worry that something is going to happen. Then you are not living. why should we fear terrorist when we do far worse things to ourselves without their help. Between natural disasters and us killing each other, why should we even think about the possibility that in our daily activities something might blow up??
as we have watched every move the rest of the world has made against Afganistan, why do we think we can do something not even the Russians' could do (and they are far less politically correct)and that is defeat the Afgan militia. After generations of war, the Afganny people have nothing to lose by standing up for themselves. They have lived through the worst of times, under conditions we cannot even grasp. They have had foriegners in their country trying to conquer and control their way of life for 100's of years. The mideast as a whole has been unstable since before the days of CHRIST.
So why are we going to waste our rescources engaging in a battle that no one can win. Putting OUR service men & women in harms way trying to fight an enemy that has NO BOUNDRIES. No rules to follow, and they hold NO value for human lives including their own. Proud to die for their ideal's they are not scared or terrified of death or dying as we Americans seem to be. They have nothing to lose. War is all these people have known for generations, and for a period of time we Americans' financed and trained these people for their fight (war) against the Russians'. Now they recieve weapons from all over the planet. Russian & Chinese made automatic weapons, rocket launchers, and other munitionsfind their way into this war zone with ease. These weapons as well as the weapons we have sold in the past are now being used against OUR TROOPS!
As we have watched every move the rest of the world has made against Afghanistan, why do we think we can do something not even the Russians' could do (and they are far less politically correct)and that is defeat the Afghan militia. After generations of war, the Afghan people have nothing to lose by standing up for themselves. They have lived through the worst of times, under conditions we cannot even grasp. They have had foreigners in their country trying to conquer and control their way of life for 100's of years. The Mideast as a whole has been unstable since before the days of CHRIST.
So why are we going to waste our resources engaging in a battle that no one can win. Putting OUR service men & women in harms way trying to fight an enemy that has NO BOUNDARIES. No rules to follow, and they hold NO value for human lives including their own. Proud to die for their ideal's they are not scared or terrified of death or dying as we Americans seem to be. They have nothing to lose. War is all these people have known for generations, and for a period of time we Americans' financed and trained these people for their fight (war) against the Russians'. Now they receive weapons from all over the planet. Russian & Chinese made automatic weapons, rocket launchers, and other munitions find their way into this war zone with ease. These weapons as well as the weapons we have sold in the past are now being used against OUR TROOPS!
Afghans need less targets to shoot at. They need the rest of the world to help them build and give them the basic needs that we all take for granted. Clean water, electricity, and plumbing.
On this day after THANKS, do any of us give thought to what the rest of the world is facing while we enjoyed family , friends, & food. Others in the world still face their daily misery of trying to survive in the midst of a poverty stricken, war torn are.
It is time for us to let the rest of the world start policing itself. We do not need to be the Afghan police. We have enough problems here in OUR own country to take care of. We are going to accomplish nothing there. If Osama Bin Laden is the true target,then let our Navy Seals go find him and get him. Use the Seals to do what they are trained to do and get it over with. If that isn't the plan, then it is time to come home and let the Afghan people deal with their issues themselves'. Unless Pakistan and Afghanistan have become part of the United States, we do not need to keep wasting OUR resources trying to fight the many factions of religions of the Middle East. We need to teach them that they can all believe what they want to believe as long as they do not infringe on the rights of others. Teach them the "GOLDEN RULE". Then quit manufacturing machine guns( like that will ever happen)
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