The War in Afghanistan needs to be won, no matter how long it takes
President Barack Obama will outline his strategy Tuesday for winning the war in Afghanistan.
He is expected to announce a surge of 34,000 additional troops, right in the middle of the 30,000-40,000 troops that General Stanley McChrystal requested in September.
No matter what strategy the President outlines on Tuesday, somebody won’t be happy; in fact, he will probably manage to make a majority of the country unhappy about some part of his plan.
This is of no fault of his, but rather the nature of war.
Some people, such as former Vice President Dick Cheney, have accused the President of “dithering,” while others have complimented Obama for “deliberating.” Whether you fault or praise the President for taking 94 days to announce his decision, I think that everybody agrees that this is a decision that should not be made lightly.
There is no doubt that we need more troops in Afghanistan. This is something Obama and John McCain said during the 2008 election. During the election cycle, Obama said he wanted a surge of troops to go into Afghanistan, and that he would be listening to his generals on the ground, and that is exactly what he is doing now.
While the President should authorize the full 40,000 that General McChrystal asked for, I am glad Obama kept the troop range within what McChrystal requested.
But winning the war in Afghanistan will depend on more than just an increase of troop levels; Obama will have to lay out his full plan.
This plan will need to include a few key points. First, the President has to ensure that our troops will be assisting the training of Afghani troops and security forces. Until the Afghanis are ready to fully take over without coalition help, we cannot leave in good conscience. Second, the President must put pressure on the administration of Afghan president Hamid Karzai. The country will never be stable until the government puts an end to corruption and increases transparency.
Last, but perhaps most importantly, the President must lay out a plan for securing the borders of Afghanistan, especially those with Pakistan. The travel of insurgents between Pakistan and Afghanistan must be stopped, and the mountain ranges along the Pakistani border must be secured. Until this happens, coalition forces will not be able to significantly decrease the violence in the country, no matter how many troops are sent in.
This is a war we need to win. It is because of tragedies such as Sept. 11 we are in Afghanistan, and we owe it to the victims of those tragedies to finish the job there. We owe it to the Afghani people.
We cannot simply pull a move like we did in Vietnam and sign a meaningless peace treaty and leave. We may have to keep some forces in Afghanistan for another 10 years or so, but we need to get the job done and get it done right.
