[International Herald Tribune, France]
Estadao, Brazil
Obama's Afghan Mission: 'All Possible Skepticism Seems
Insufficient'
"Because
Obama's strategy depends on the Afghan government, armed forces and security
forces … none of this will be possible as long as Afghans remain convinced that
the Americans are only there to protect Karzai."
EDITORIAL
Translated By Brandi Miller
December 4, 2009
Brazil - Estadao - Original Article
(Portuguese)
Weeks ago, President Barack
Obama told an audience of American soldiers in Alaska that he would only risk
their lives if it were an absolute necessity. But then he promised that he
would give them, "a mission that is clearly defined, and worthy of your
service." After three months of deliberations last Tuesday, with his
announcement at the West Point Military Academy of his decision to send more
than 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan by mid 2010, Obama tried to
describe the strategy and mission of the United States in a nation that has
defied success after eight years of fighting - because during this period one
thing after another has broken down. Bush resolved to invade Afghanistan at the
end of 2001 in order to destroy bases where al-Qaeda operated under the
protection of the Taliban and to eliminate Osama bin Laden, who commanded the
outrage that was September 11th.
Afghans, free of the medieval
tyranny of fundamentalists thanks to the invasion, elected a president, Hamid
Karzai, who wore the mantle of moderation and modernization while American
forces practically had bin Laden in their sights. From that point on,
everything started going wrong. The invaders didn't wipe out the enemy and
failed to prevent a sizable part of their organization from finding refuge on
Pakistani territory. But by then, Bush had turned to Iraq, and Afghanistan was
no longer one of Washington's top priorities. The "war of choice," as
Obama would come to call it, overshadowed the "war of necessity." The
Taliban regained the initiative, American and NATO casualties rose and the
burden of the staggering collection of disasters committed by his predecessor
was left to the new president, at a cost of 800 American lives and over $170
billion.
Obama has pledged to
"bring this war to a successful conclusion." The problem is what this
means and what it depends on. For example, it remains unclear if the central
goal is to defeat the Taliban or eradicate the "cancer" of al-Qaeda
in the region. These are not synonymous.
President
Obama, in perhaps one of the oddest speeches ever
given by a Nobel Peace Prize
Winner, accepts the award in Oslo,
Norway, Dec. 10.
He defended the U.S. right to wage 'just wars.'
CLICK HERE OR CLICK PHOTO TO WATCH
BBC NEWS REPORT 
"If I did not think that
the security of the United States [and the safety of the American people] were
at stake in Afghanistan," Obama said, "I would gladly order every
single one of our troops home tomorrow." However, the Taliban doesn't
threaten the United States. Moreover, Obama recognized that the "struggle
against violent extremism will not be finished quickly, and it extends well
beyond Afghanistan and Pakistan." But he set 2011 as the start date for withdrawal.
Perhaps Vice President Joe Biden was right when he advocated leaving the
Taliban issue for the Afghans and intensifying the aerial "surgical
strikes" against al-Qaeda in Pakistan.
In any case, let us suppose
that the U.S. mission in Afghanistan is clear. America nevertheless still holds
to a strategy that Obama, his generals and his civilian advisors can sketch out,
but the control of which has escaped them. Because it depends on the government,
the armed forces and the Afghan security forces. And in this regard, all possible
skepticism seems insufficient. After almost eight years in power and having
recently been reelected thanks to a colossal fraud, Hamid Karzai leads what's
considered the second most corrupt government in the world (the first being
Somalia's). Afghans are extorted at every step - no wonder they tolerate or
sympathize with the Taliban. Foreign aid is appropriated by mafias whose capo di tutti capi
is their own president. His brother Ahmed Wali was appointed as the main
operator of the opium trade and just last month, Karzai rejected an American
request to remove him from his base in Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
A job with the police could
be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. And those who get hired know that
they'll recover their investment by selling protection to drug traffickers.
Despite their small numbers - 180,000 in a country of almost 30 million people -
Afghan soldiers and police are generally much less capable than, for example, their
Iraqi peers. The Obama strategy of transferring responsibility to the locals is
based on what Bush did in Iraq in 2007, with reasonable success - the so-called
breakthrough (in English, the "surge). The idea is also to incorporate
low-ranking Taliban into the security forces, such as what was done with Iraq's
Sunni insurgents. But none of this will be possible as long as Afghans remain convinced
that the Americans are only there to protect Karzai.
SEE ALSO ON THIS:
NRC Handelsblad, The Netherlands:
Can Dutch
Ignore Obama's
Afghan Request?
Rceczpospolita, Poland:
Afghanistan: Poland Should Remain 'Until the End'
Frontier Post, Pakistan:
CIA's Taliban Proxies Will Never Snatch Pakistan's Nukes!
La Stampa, Italy:
Obama Must Finish Bush's Work or 'Marginalize' the West
DNA, France:
To America or France,
Sarkozy Must
Break His Commitment
Le Monde, France:
Nicolas Sarkozy's 'Neither-Nor' on the Afghan Surge
Berliner Zeitung, Germany:
Obama's Hope is All
Afghanistan Has Left
Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Russia:
NATO Still 'Clueless' About What to Do Next
Liberation, France:
Obama's Hesitation on Afghanistan May Cost Him Dearly
The Nation, Pakistan :
Obama's Speech:
'Servility' Toward
U.S. Has its Limits
The Frontier Post, Pakistan:
America Reveals Dark Side of the Human Intellect
Asia Times, Hong Kong:
China Maps
End to the Afghanistan War
Gazeta, Russia:
U.S. and Russia Share Responsibility for 'Afghan Anthill'
CLICK HERE FOR PORTUGUESE VERSION
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US, Dec. 10, 3:50pm
