Monday, September 14, 2009
What is it about Afghanistan that seems to derange policymakers in Washington, asks Conn Hallinan, a columnist for Foreign Policy in Focus. There are parallels between the current war and that which was fought forty years ago in Vietnam—the enemy is elusive, the local populations doesn’t like us, and the “governing regime is corrupt with virtually no support outside of the nation's capital,” writes Hallinan.
“But in many ways Afghanistan is worse than Vietnam,” which has led Hallinan to tick off a number of “delusions” affecting those making decisions about the war.
Delusion #1: President Barack Obama characterizing Afghanistan as “a war of necessity” against international terrorism. “But the reality is that the Taliban is a polyglot collection of conflicting political currents whose goals are local, not universal jihad.”
Delusion #2: Counterinsurgency is the answer. Even though it didn’t work for Vietnam, America’s top military commander says it’s time to try it in Afghanistan.
Delusion #3: Send more troops. According to the military’s counterinsurgency playbook, the U.S. would need to provide “a minimum of 20 counterinsurgents per 1,000 residents,” which would mean “at least 660,000 troops” trained in counterinsurgency doctrine.
Delusion #4: NATO is supporting the United States. Well, maybe not. British support for keeping their troops in Afghanistan is dropping, and Germany’s backing may begin to weaken in the aftermath of three Bundeswehr soldiers being killed near Kunduz in June.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Afghanistan: What Are These People Thinking? (by Conn Hallinan, Foreign Policy in Focus)
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