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TechnoratiThe Guns of August and Afghanistan
Yes, yes, of course, everyone is talking about healthcare and the "mobs" of foes and supporters of reform confronting members of Congress during this month's House and Senate recess.
I'm with the small "d" democrats on this one: bring on the mobs.
The more citizens the merrier. The more raucous debate the better.
But let's also bring on the issues. All of them.
Healthcare is important. But its not the only challenge that Congress will have to deal with in the fall.
Members of Congress are using the August recess to survey constituent sentiments on a host of matters. And one of them deserves dramatically increased attention: the misguided occupation of Afghanistan.
At the very least, members of the House should be urged to sign on as cosponsors of H.R. 2404, which would "require the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to Congress outlining the United States exit strategy for United States military forces in Afghanistan participating in Operation Enduring Freedom."
So far, 95 members, including a number of Republicans, have signed on as co-sponsors of Massachusetts Congressman Jim McGovern's proposal.
But just calling for an exit strategy is not enough.
Members of the House and Senate should he urged to support the rapid withdrawl of US troops from Afghanistan.
I give credit to Wisconsin Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin -- an H.R. 2404 co-sponsor who has a record of opposing military misadventures abroad -- for asking the right question in a constituent survey circulated this month.
To wit:
Which of the following comes closest to your feelings about American involvement in Afghanistan?1. American troops should be brought home from Afghanistan as soon as possible
2. American troop presence in Afghanistan should stay the same, and their mission should include stabilizing the nation
3. American troop presence in Afghanistan should increase and their mission should include stabilizing the nation
4. American troops should remain in Afghanistan, but their only mission should be that authorized by Congress--to track down and bring to justice those responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
5. None of these statements accurately reflects my views
6. No opinion
I'm for the first option: "American troops should be brought home from Afghanistan as soon as possible."
Yes, that's a blunt choice, especially with regard to so complex a country and region -- and especially after the United States has poured so much energy into the Afghanistan imbroglio.
But it's also the best choice.
Pulling US troops out does not represent an abandonment of Afghanistan. Rather, it is a recognition that the current course has failed to achieve any of the goals outlined by the Bush-Cheney administration when the country was invaded or by the Obama-Biden administration when it recommitted to the mission.
Despite what President Obama imagines, increasing the US troops' presence in Afghanistan will simply make a misguided mission more misguided -- not to mention more deadly and more expensive.
Ultimately, the US may support a genuine multinational response – either through the United Nations or by a regional bloc -- to threats posed either by the instability of Afghanistan or by groups operating in that country and neighboring Pakistan.
But that response will only be appropriate and effective if US troops are withdrawn and the ridiculous North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) overlay on operations in that country has been ended.
Afghanistan is a complicated country.
There are real issues to be addressed there, and the international community may have a role.
But the US role of occupier needs to end. Now.
11 Comments so far
Show AllThe president and members of Congress should be made to see the movie, "Hurt Locker." Maybe they can experiene vicariously what the war in Afghanistan is really like.
peacekeepertwo, We need to End both the Wars, that were started while George W Bush was in Office. But if we Keep our Military Empire,another President will get us into war. You have justify having a Military Empire.
"1. American troops should be brought home from Afghanistan AS SOON AS POSSIBLE." WTF?
7 YEARS into the war-to-nowhere and our most anti-war congresspeople are still afraid to say ....NOW.
BRING THEM HOME NOW---anything less is not acceptable.
Agreed.
They need to justify the gargantuan Pentagon budget somehow.
We should not be in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Pakistan. We should not be harassing Iran. Osama bin Laden is dead. Al Qaeda is a myth. Osama is like Big Brother's Emmanuel Goldstein; often sought, never caught, and always coming up with a communique to inflame the people when they start getting restive about the actions of their own government.
History is against us. Alexander, the British Empire, the Russians (CCCP) and now us, all expended or expending huge resources to conquer a people who do not like invaders, who want to be left alone and are willing to give their lives to attain that goal.
We spend hundred$ of thousand$ to kill one man with a rifle, who will quickly be replaced by ten more. In so doing, we kill and maim hundreds of civilians and thus recruit still more Afghans to the cause. We can't even figure out that the Pashtuns we are killing in Afghanistan and Pakistan don't even recognize the artificial borders that the west set up to divide them. They are a tribal and clannish people who travel back and forth across the "border" to visit and trade with their relatives. We gave bin Laden a lot of money and weapons to help run out the Russians. Then we abandoned them to their own devices, once thay had achieved that goal. Then we moved in to the same place, to build a pipeline, grab some more oil.
That training and expertise is now used against us, as the next invaders, the next killers, the next violators of their customs and mores.
We should not be there, we should be leaving (should have left, actually) and any help should be through diplomatic means, not military and political.
In short, we need to regain sanity and commit peace for a change. Any chance of that? Not with this crew, I fear.
minitrue;very well put,thank you,Tony
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin's indeed does deserve credit for the framing of options in her constituent survey as she did, even though I remain leery of the notion that military violence can ever be fine tuned somehow to achieve stability
Personally, I would blend two of Baldwin's survey options together, to read this way:
American troops should be brought home from Afghanistan quickly, by announcing that all NATO military forces will be withdrawn from the region within 90 days of Osama bin Laden and Zwahiri being taken into custody, to be safely held for trial before an international tribunal for their role in the attacks of 9/11/01, under Islamic law and/or international law, in a manner that the General Assembly of the United Nations shall prescribe.
Why not create an up front incentive for the Afghan/Pakistan locals to get all the foreign fighters out of their territory?
Essentially, the Taliban (through Mullah Omar) offered to do exactly this back in October of 2001. The Bush White House blew the Afghans off, and let slip the dogs of war.
Assuming the goal really is to bring justice and to restore peace, what is there to lose by candidly making such an effort even now?
Bill from Saginaw
Kucinich, years ago submitted that American troops should pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan and be replaced by a truly United Nations peace keeping force, after all along being against the invasion. He ran for President twice with the same stance on the invasion and the war; both have always been illegal. Absolutely, we should pull out COMPLETELY, with no residual training force, and really, just let the United Nations force do it WITHOUT us! We need to pay reparations to the Iraqi people, and to our own who have suffered here at home because of the costs both human and monetarily of the war. Also, we need to take responsibility, and become accountable for the National and International crimes, and crimes against humanity in all forms that they took by investigating and bringing to justice everyone from top to bottom that took part in the planning and execution of them. Even if all sentences were commuted, the glory of the expedition would be removed, and for once, it could be seen as it is; another horrible chapter in American history. Better for this generation to do it, than two or three generations down the road. Confession and repentance kind of lose their effect when someone other than the perpetrator is doing the confessing and repenting.
What about "leave", don't you understand?