On Tuesday afternoon, hours before his televised address at West Point, President Barack Obama wisely acknowledged, “None of this is easy. I mean, we are choosing from a menu of options that are less than ideal.” For such a statement, I applaud the president for his candor and realism. He is right in asserting that Afghanistan can no longer be the forgotten war regulated to the back page of the American mind. Afghanistan is not the “good” war, it is really the great unknown — troubled by a corrupt and feeble central government, a lack of infrastructure, and persistent attacks from Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, Afghanistan has a bleaker future than even Iraq. That would have been difficult to say three years ago.
Had the president decided to withdraw immediately from Afghanistan, I would have respected his decision. But his timetable for America’s exit is shortsighted and setup for failure.
The moment Obama decided to add more troops to the equation should have been the moment he placed all of his cards on the table. Go all in, or do not go at all. Expediting the deployment of 30,000 troops may help in the short term, but it is not a viable solution. Contrary to what some Congressional Republicans have argued in recent days, this is not about aiding the enemy by handing them our timetable for departure. There is no doubt that Obama recognized the divisions in his cabinet and the widening rift in his party over war policy. But even more certain is the fact that the July 2011 date to begin some form of an orderly exit coincides well with a looming presidential election the following year. Politics, rest assured, is always part of the equation.
No one can argue with Obama surrogates that reject the prospects of extended nation building in Afghanistan. America’s finances will not defeat an entrenched insurgency if the Afghan government refuses to cooperate on issues such as educational development or reductions in the illegal drug trade. What is perplexing about the Obama war plan, however, is his awkward marriage of a substantial troop increase with his refusal to embrace the essential features of the army’s counterinsurgency tactics. Adding manpower to protect the civilian population is admirable, but what will happen when we depart in the coming years?
Unless we commit ourselves to ramping up the training of Afghan security forces, the current mission will go to waste. If the president is sincere about leaving Afghanistan in stable condition, he will grant American troops the time they deserve to prove their mettle.
Michael Stubel is a junior in the School of Public Affairs and the School of Communication and a moderate libertarian columnist for The Eagle. You can reach him at edpage@theeagleonline.com.
