Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Kabul-istic Tendencies
Many wonder why we are fighting in Afghanistan, yet the answers are "phishy" at best. Some say we are still waging a "War on Terror," whilst others proclaim that we are fighting to preserve the freedom of the Afghan people. However, the war is far from pretty, and if the government wants America to remain on Afghani soil, they must present firm and compelling reasons for us to stay. The recent attacks in Kabul signify Afghanistan's resilience to bowing before US might. As the losses on both sides grow, we must reevaluate what we are fighting for and decide whether it is just.
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6 comments:
Yes, the answers are a bit "phishy"...it seems that debate centered particularly around Afghanistan has been put on the back burner. Could this be simply because our nation's pressing economic issues take precedence over the Afghanistan conflict? Or could it be a calculated political move by Obama in the months running up to the election? I really want to see next year's presidential candidates address this issue, so I definitely agree with you Jacob - we must reevaluate our situation overseas.
I'd like to point out that if all US troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan, the Afghani security forces that our army is training would be like a phish out of water against the armed resistance that the American-installed government would face.
I concur with Jacob on all points presented. Americans deserve much more solid and feasible arguments for our continued presence in Afghanistan, arguments that do not stem from reasoning such as “protecting freedoms” when this war has cost the lives and freedoms of many on either side. Skimming the links in the original article, I found that the assailants succeeded in holding off a combined counterattack by U.S, NATO, and Afghan soldiers for 20 hours before being dispatched. Moreover, members of the U.S embassy characterize this attack as mere “harassment” and “far from spectacular”. I think this is excellent proof of Afghanistan’s unyielding resistance to American might, as well as a tendency of the U.S government to minimize the ever-present resistance in the region. Unfortunately though, as Gabe noted, I agree that leaving the fight now would spell certain failure for the Afghani security forces. Also, as Jeremy said, I too want to hear more from the upcoming presidential candidates on their views about our continued presence in Afghanistan.
Alex and Gabe, I think we should agree to disagree on this issue. There is no need to waste the lives of American heroes on a problem like Afghanistan when we don't have substantial funds to back them. If you told me that we would increase military spending and troops in Afghanistan, I would support our involvement there. Yet, its hard to back a cause when America is not whole-heartily backing it. We should all take notes from the Mexican-America war, A war where we saw, and we conquered. We should all learn from Roosevelt's Rough Riders who squashed San Juan Heights like it was an anthill! Let's get back to supporting our troops and asserting America's dominance. Romney 2012.
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