Those on the right and left have spent the last few weeks reacting to President Obama’s speech. There is however, an unspoken reason troops are heading to this mountain country.
Obama’s speech has been criticized on every level. One radio talk show host demonstrated clips, from Obama, that showed he borrowed nearly word for word from G.W. Bush’s speech supporting the surge in Iraq. The same host played clips demonstrating similarities to L.B.J’s speech about Vietnam. That was a neat piece of historical perspective; but, the assertion that Afghanistan is anything like either Iraq or Vietnam is naïve.
Afghanistan is Afghanistan. The thirty thousand troops heading there are not going to Afghanistan to create a new Italy or Japan. They are going there because of the two nuclear powers in the region, because of the resources and instability of the former Soviet satellites and to have the U.S. presence be somewhat of a thumb in the eye of Russia. Most importantly, the increase in American troops is to set the table for what will be a long standing presence in Afghanistan. Just as having troops elsewhere, is an advantage to keep an eye on those countries in the vicinity, (such as Italy's vicinity to Libya or Japan’s vicinity to North Korea,) Afghanistan is very close to many places that are, or could be, a danger to others, like Pakistan that is an unstable, nuclear power and is packed with dangerous fundamentalists.
The President mentioned Pakistan's importance in the speech, but he couldn't help criticizing the previous administration and the U.S.'s past "mistakes." Was the speech a good one? No, in fact it may be known as one of the worst war speeches in a generation. It was full of Bush-like rhetoric mixed, with left-wing placation. One might even wonder if this planned surge was already being planned when the administrations changed. The new war council probably sat on the plan until they could take full ownership of it.
So, now the administration owns this surge, and after a year and a half, some troops probably will be cycling out of Afghanistan. There will however be a large number still there. The objective will be to stabilize the capital Kabul; and, also to strengthen regional governors. Realistically, however, the point of the surge is to weaken Al Qaeda and the Taliban, but as was mentioned before, all the fundamentalist weasels may run into surrounding countries; but this time, there will be a U.S. force to keep an eye on them.
What happens when this region is ignored? Remember that after the defeat of the Soviets in Afghanistan, the foreigners (mostly Arabs) who had traveled there to defend their fellow Muslims remained in the country. Some of these Mujahadeen became Al Qaeda. The same force responsible for the 9-11 attacks. The same force that is a bane to so many across the globe is all due to Afghanistan being ignored.
In the end this administration knows how important a long standing U.S. presence is to the stability of the region. That military presence will outlast this administration and perhaps many others. Conservatives should avoid making political hay of the deadlines that are being discussed, especially when none of the arbitrary deadlines that have been set so far, by the President, have been met. President Obama wants to be reelected. A retreat in Afghanistan would damage his chance for a second term. Even if he gets a second term, defeat would damage a Democrats most precious position, his Legacy.
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