The situation with the war in Afghanistan has been bad lately. Al Qaeda is gaining strength, and American forces are having trouble protecting the Afghan people from the terrorist organization. On top of that, American support for the war is waning. According to pollingreport.com, 46 percent support the war while 45 percent oppose.
The leading officer of the campaign in Afghanistan, Army General Stanley McChrystal, put together a 66-page report on the standing armed forces in Afghanistan. He also called upon President Obama to approve a 45,000-troop surge. Obama said he will not approve a surge without a clearer strategy in the region.
This makes sense, since he is ultimately responsible for the lives of the troops overseas and bears responsibility if they die. Obama has called the war in Afghanistan the “good war” (implying the war in Iraq is bad) and has said he is committed to success in Afghanistan.
This, to me, seems inconsistent. For the past eight months of Obama’s first year in office, the country has seen programs and stimulus packages that needed to pass in haste. His reasoning so far is, “We have to have this problem fixed now! If we do not, our economy and our people will be in for a world of hurt that we cannot handle. Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures. If you stand in the way, you oppose solutions!”
Why the change in momentum now? Why, all of a sudden, do we slow down on issues that need thought and consideration?
The issue seems clear to me: Either listen to your general, who is on the ground and knows what is going on, or declare defeat and cut your losses. If you want to win, go for it. If it’s too much trouble, get out. In the meantime, we do not have enough manpower to do the job at hand, putting the ones fighting for America in jeopardy!
If it were up to me, I would approve a troop surge. We entered Afghanistan in 2001 after the biggest terrorist attack on American soil. We made a promise to hold the perpetrators responsible for their actions. This meant to get rid of the Taliban government and Al Qaeda terrorist group it was harboring. We learned pretty quickly a man named Osama bin Laden was the leader of the organization and became the top on our most wanted list. Have we obtained our target? No. Justice has not been satisfied, and therefore our objective is not over.
There is another reason why I am for a troop surge, and that is because of our historical ties to the region. I am referring to the covert war in the 1980s against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, commonly referred to as Charlie Wilson’s War. We supplied a guerrilla group of freedom fighters, known as the Mujahedeen, with surface to air missiles – Stingers to be precise – to fight Soviet helicopters.
In the end, the Soviets retreated, and so did American support. There was no sympathy from American lawmakers. Afghanistan was left in ruins. It was here that a terrorist group, armed with American guns and missile launchers, took hold. Years later, this same group was responsible for the attacks on the USS Cole in Yemen in October of 2000 and the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Here we are in 2009, and we are again in a part of the world fighting an evil. Here we are thinking of leaving before the job is done. Al Qaeda is getting stronger, and our ability to protect the Afghan people is getting weaker. If we leave, we put ourselves in peril. It may not manifest itself in the short term, but is inevitable in the long term.
Mr. President, either increase the number of troops in Afghanistan and fight to win, or pull the remaining troops out so they will not die in vain. Do not make this a political issue; do what is right and responsible.
Ryan Green is a junior majoring in electrical engineering. He can be contacted at [email protected].