Obama Stays Strong
I had feared that his firm line was softening (which would have not only been a true pity but also politically opened him up to the same “Flip-flop” claim that hounded John Kerry. As it is he is actually attacking The Surge outright, an unexpected angle given the quantity of good press that this strategic measure has been given. His criticisms are sound though: Afghanistan does seem to have suffered from neglect (having been mostly forgotten, it seems at times) and the massive scale investment and resulting permanant killing of resentment which The Surge was supposed to have achieved by now simply happened.
John McCain appears to be deeming it a success purely because less American troops are now dying. This disregards the civilian death count and the fact that The Surge had goals which it has failed to achieve. Simply to prevent further hæmorrhaging does not make the conditions ripe for continued presence in the fashion which McCain suggests. Unless, of course, Iraq is to be treated like an imperial conquest.
Less pleasing is Obama’s continued commitment to troop deployment in Afghanistan. Although things are far more clear here in terms of the American’s foes (the Taliban wish to cease control of the country and implement once again the truly grim conditions that they previously enjoyed) the extent to which such a force can be defeated by the present tactics used is unclear. Should the present approach of the former regime of engaging in pitched battles continue it is likely that the Americans shall continue to win but fighting such an extensive force when it takes up insurgency tactics will be difficult.
More than military might is required to win Afghanistan and safeguard it from re-conquest by theocracy. What must be won over is the people. Through allowing the seminal education of girls there is a start towards this underway but there must be other ways in which the repuganancy of the Taliban’s return can be demonstrated. A viable alternative would be pleasing but the extent to which any American president can forge such a movement is strictly limited. We must hope for an Afghan alternative to theocrats or American puppet rule to emerge. For the time being more troops being present to stop, for instance, the murder of teachers educating both genders for the first time in Afghanistan’s history does not seem displeasing.
Certainly more good can be done there than in Iraq.
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