A Story Of Afghan Conflict
By Rizwan Asghar
29 April, 2011
Countercurrents.org
Decades from now, when the US would have withdrawn its forces from Afghanistan after a humiliating defeat, historians will puzzle over what made the most sophisticated and developed army of the world fail against a ragtag and untrained army of militants. At that moment in time, a point will certainly strike the minds of scholars that US could not understand the very nature of conflict Afghanistan was capsized in and adopt policies which were best suited to its goal of winning the war.
Moreover, the unnecessary prolongation of the conflict could be avoided if President Obama had the courage to make tough decisions at critical junctures and withdraw troops from Afghanistan immediately after entering the office. In this way, he could put an end to messy Afghan war. But President Obama, like his predecessor, continued to make failed attempts in the vain hope to turn around the situation.
President George W. Bush with his neo-cons friends took the country to a war that turned out to be much harder than it looked. In addition, the adoption of short-sighted policies made the war certainly move towards a stalemate. U.S. political leaders from both parties and American citizens generally misunderstood the motivation of militants and employed all coercive means at their disposal to defeat militancy.
President Obama used the mantra of change in policies but even his strategy of Afghan war was " all a big, big lie". General Petraeus, famous for his successful 'surge' strategy in Iraq continued claiming to have broken the back of the insurgency. But his strategy in Afghanistan led to spreading the violence and insurgency across the country.
President Obama, after much water had passed under the bridge, scaled down the lofty ideals set by his predecessor and chose the option of finding a civilian solution. But military generals from Pentagon in collusion with the CIA foiled his every attempt. The obama administration's state of inaction and inability to take bold decisions in the face of massive opposition from warmongers also paved the way towards a costly defeat.
Here another question will catch the attention of historians that why did the US not learn lessons from Soviet experience in Afghanistan? Soviet occupation of Afghanistan collapsed not because of any single military defeat but because the occupation became too expensive and incoherent to sustain. The US kept treading the same path despite hundreds of reports which gave the news of the terrible endgame Americans were fastly approaching.
After just two or three years of the war, the American public started believing that they were fighting a useless war which cost them billions of dollars every month. But this overwhelming opposition to the disastrous war was made ineffective using media and think tanks funded by the CIA and some shady corporations. The war against a small army of militants in Afghanistan was identified with a war to protect American values. In a mindless way, US military tried to place the blame of their failure in Afghanistan on Pakistan by propagandizing that the latter's military establishment played a double game.
It is said that every time history repeats itself, the price goes up. The case of the US going totally stupid may not be any exception. The US would not only lose a war but also fall from the status of even a major power because of irrepairable losses in Afghanistan. Some desperate attempts by NATO troops to create a semblance of dignified exit are just going to worsen the situation.
In addition, the failure against in Afghanistan would prove a major blow to the image of US army in the world. President Obama may not even be able to secure second term in office because the American public has understood that this black politician is only good at delivering speeches but not able to wisely pilot the ship of their state out of stormy waters.
Rizwan Asghar is a writer, academic researcher and journalist based in Pakistan.
Comments are not moderated. Please be responsible and civil in your postings and stay within the topic discussed in the article too. If you find inappropriate comments, just Flag (Report) them and they will move into moderation que.
