The article states "at this point, what can the United States really hope to achieve in Afghanistan?"I feel like this is the most important question we have to answer because we need to realize that time is running out and that we must change our agenda in the region. If this is done we can be somewhat successful in resolving this conflict.
posted by: Alec King
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/weekinreview/12mazzetti.html?hp
I found this article to be very interesting. While reading it, I couldn't help but think of the Soviet war in Afghanistan and the lasting impacts the choices made by the US government have had. In that conflict, the United States sent weapons, ammo, and supplies to the Afghan resistance fighters. The Soviet military ultimately pulled out of the region, and instead of keeping police forces in Afghanistan to ensure the fledgling government would develop into a successful one, the US government opted to withdraw as well. The Afghan government became corrupt and remained unstable until the Taliban seized power in 1994.
ReplyDeleteIf the US would have stayed in Afghanistan as a peace-keeping force to ensure the new government would have a shot at becoming a healthy one, there would have been more stability, less corruption within the government, and less of a chance for the Taliban to forcibly take power.
The goal in Afghanistan should remain to establish a healthy, working government. I feel that the US should not opt to pull out from Afghanistan without helping establish a viable form of government that has the possibility to succeed. If our forces leave the country with the city of Kandahar full of Taliban fighters, we will most likely see history repeat itself. The Taliban, or a group like it, will seize the opportunity to topple the weak government currently in place without US forces there as police watchdogs. As much as I would like to see our troops come home and this conflict to finally be over, we cannot leave Afghanistan without establishing a legitimate government first.
Alec,
ReplyDeleteIt was difficult reading this article because father is currently in Afghanistan. The US has made an impact in Afghanistan, even if it may not be close to what we'd hoped to have achieved at this point. We would not have entered the country if it wasn't viewed as a problem that was alterable. Even if it takes longer than what we thought, if we pull-out without reaching our goal, we wasted time; and families, mine included, wasted time without their loved ones home. I agree that the goal, "if they want a lasting peace after their troops leave, is to build credible government institutions in and around Kandahar." Rather than leaving, let's finish what we came to do: make a change.
-Elise Leppert