George Will is wrong about Afghanistan

Foreign Policy by Christian Brose | Sep. 2, 2009 (Opinion)

(Blog Post) The problem in Afghanistan is not that a counterinsurgency strategy has failed, but that is hasn't really ever been tried. There are risks with either strategy, be it reinforcement or withdrawal, but I'd like to hear from the critics why their alternative is better in light of its likely implications, which to me seem pretty awful. Given how bad things would likely get in Afghanistan if we adopted Will's prescriptions, shouldn't we at least give ... Full Story »

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by Manfred Ostrowski - Sep. 3, 2009

Written as a response to George Will, this can hardly be seen as offering a promising strategy to defeat Afghan insurgents which, quite uncritically, are equated with the threat of "international terrorism", and Christian Brose does not even pretend that the interests and wishes of Afghans would matter in the continuing U.S. struggle to gain control. The author fails to address George Will's main points, so his contribution is not convincing.

I think there is still a certain pressure for the U.S. to "win" this war in Afghanistan in order to avoid criticism at home. I am sure many Americans would consider any reduction of U.S. engagement in Afghanistan as a "defeat" and a "humiliation", so I fear this "counterinsurgency strategy" will continue, and casualties will not come to an end for several years if not decades to come. The damage might ultimately be larger than the amount of "security" achieved.