WilmerLeon.com

by Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III

Under the pretext of responding to the September 11, 2001 attacks in America, the United and States and Great Britain invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 under the banner of Operation Enduring Freedom. President Bush 41’ told the American people that the US strikes were,

“…designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations, and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime…we will make it more difficult for the terror network to train new recruits and coordinate their evil plans. Initially, the terrorists may burrow deeper into caves and other entrenched hiding places…At the same time, the oppressed people of Afghanistan will know the generosity of America and our allies. As we strike military targets, we will also drop food, medicine and supplies to the starving and suffering men and women and children of Afghanistan… ”

During the 2008 presidential campaign, candidate Obama promised to immediately withdraw troops from Iraq in order to bolster the forces in Afghanistan in order to defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda. “It’s time to refocus our attention on the war we have to win in Afghanistan.”

I believe that this tactic was taken by the Obama team in order to placate the anti-Iraq contingent of the American electorate on the left while not leaving himself vulnerable to the “soft on defense” hawkish argument on the right. As a campaign tactic this approach proved to be successful. In reality, this may prove to be one of the greatest miscalculations President Obama has made. The real question here becomes, what’s the best tactic to accomplish this end?

According to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, the situation in Afghanistan/Pakistan, “… is serious and it is deteriorating…the Taliban insurgency has gotten better, and more sophisticated, in their tactics…” To this end, according to the Defense Department, as of Tuesday, August 25, 2009, 724 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan as a result of Operation Enduring Freedom. Of those, 548 troops were killed by hostile action.

The top American commander in the region, General Stanley A. McChrystal continues to work on a major war strategy review and has yet to request additional troops above those already added by President Obama. There are currently 57,000 American soldiers and Marines in Afghanistan, well below what that commanders need to “win in Afghanistan”.

The military problem is also compounded by deteriorating political reality. As with the elections in Iran, voting irregularities and accusations of fraud in Afghanistan are raising political tensions and destabilizing the political infrastructure with the country and region. What could make the reported irregularities more problematic in Afghanistan than Iran are the ethnic divisions that run deep within their culture. President Karzi is a member of the Pashtun group. The Pashtun’s control the south which is a stronghold of the Taliban. Karzai’s major challenger Dr. Abdullah’s support is based in the more peaceful north, which is dominated by Tajiks and other ethnic groups. If the basis of disenfranchisement is perceived to fall along ethnic lines, such divisions could be very difficult to resolve.

Since 2001, in spite of President Bush and now President Obama’s noble speeches and military tactics, the US and its allies have not “disrupt(ed) the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations”. The US has not been able to successfully “attack the military capability of the Taliban regime”. President Obama and his advisors should learn from history, some ancient some modern, and not repeat it. This is the region of the world that has never been defeated militarily. It is where empires go to die. The Greeks, Indians, Persians, Mongolians, British, and Russians have tried to hold Afghanistan but never succeeded.

While, according to Admiral Mullen, the insurgents tactics have “gotten better, and more sophisticated…” US tacticians remain mired in the same failed logic and processes. The US and its allies could “disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations, and attack the military capability of the Taliban regime…” if more of the oppressed people of Afghanistan came to “…know the generosity of America and our allies.” If America actually dropped more “…food, medicine and supplies to the starving and suffering men and women and children of Afghanistan…” than munitions, political as well as military conflicts could be easier to resolve.

The problem with this solution is that those who fuel and promote the military industrial complex in America do not profit from the sale of humanitarian assistance. They profit from war. You can’t win by just replacing Alexander the Greats war elephants with F-18 fighter jets and drones. This is why, if America is not smart, Afghanistan/Pakistan will once again be where empires go to die.

Dr. Wilmer Leon is the Producer/ Host of the nationally broadcast call-in talk radio program “On With Leon,” and a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Go to www.wilmerleon.com or email: wjl3us@yahoo.com.

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