With the tenth anniversary of the crime that was 9/11, the question inevitably crops up: who won, the United States or al-Qaeda? According to the politically correct answer, although al-Qaeda has been decimated, it has been a Pyrrhic victory for Washington. In defeating al-Qaeda, the U.S. government engaged in many unnecessary violations of human rights and due process that diminished America in the eyes of both its citizens and the world.
What generals don’t get is that wars like Vietnam and Afghanistan — occupations in effect — are political, not military affairs.
Its attack on the U.S. embassy reveals a Taliban either conflicted or divided within itself about talking with the United States.
Adapting to an unconventional war, the United States and its allies picked up some new tactics in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the past few years, drone attacks and night raids have become staples of the effort to combat al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The announcement of a new counterterrorism strategy and the beginning of troop withdrawals from the conflict suggest that these methods are poised to become fixtures of how the U.S. combats global terrorist threats.
The July 12 assassination of Ahmed Wali Karzai in Kandahar is one of those moments when the long and bloody Afghanistan war suddenly comes into focus. It is not a picture one is eager to put up on the wall.
Drawing on newly released documents, personal anecdote, and keen analysis, former U.S. Ambassador Peter Tomsen relates a brutal portrait of Afghanistan from its origins to the present day. That present is as dark as the recent past. Despite the glum historical perspective, Tomsen’s final analysis in The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and The Failures of Great Powers leaves a ray of hope.
From Iraq to Afghanistan to Libya, the first decade of the 21st century has solidified the U.S. reputation as the energizer bunny of war. While these conflicts continue to rage on, there are a growing number of signs that even the United States has a limit to how much war it is willing to wage.
Congressman McDermott’s floor speech reminds us that out-of-control Afghanistan spending brought down the Soviet Union.
The possibility of a negotiated settlement for the 10-year war in Afghanistan finally gained some traction when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a political surge in February. Since then President Obama and other prominent officials have refuted the notion that the conflict can be resolved by military means alone. The goal is to create political solutions led and agreed upon by the Afghan government and the insurgency, and acknowledged by major regional players including Pakistan.
Perhaps it’s time we sympathized with what drives suicide bombers.