The U.S. in Afghanistan: The Longest War

Time by Aryn Baker | Apr. 9, 2009 (Special Report)

... in 2009, the U.S. is still fighting the Taliban, and al-Qaeda operatives are still plotting from Afghanistan. And one part of the region's deadly muddle has gotten worse. In 2001 there were fears that the war in Afghanistan would destabilize Pakistan. (The Pashtun ethnic group, which makes up a large part of the Taliban insurgency, straddles the border between the two countries.) Those fears are now reality; the Pakistani Taliban threatens ... Full Story »

Posted by Kaizar Campwala

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3.8

by Derek Hawkins - Apr. 9, 2009

The narrative in this piece is compelling, but this is nothing that hasn't been reported before. The subtext is that the war in Afghanistan is a winnable one, a disputed idea whose meaning isn't discussed deeply here.

“We aren’t here to win hearts and minds,” says Jeremy Brenner, a U.S. State Department adviser based in Jalalabad. “What we need is to engender hope and faith in the Afghan government.”

I detect lots of confusion over the U.S. approach to Afghanistan, based on what I’ve read. Is it more important to bolster the government, or win over the populace? Do we balance the two? Does one follow the other? I don’t see a consensus.