"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing"
-- Edmund Burke
It seems like everytime that I turn on the news there is some political pundit, politician, academic, or political activist stating no more Troops for Afghanistan, and pull our Troops out now. It must be nice to be able to make statements, with no regard for our Allies, Enemies, National Security Policy, and our own Nation's security.
First off, whether you agree with why we went to War in Afghanistan, the simple fact is we are there now. Which leads to a very important concept. "If you break it, you bought it", sounds like something you would tell your children. But, within International Law and Norms if you invade a country, and unseat their government, you are responsible for rebuilding it. So we, very simply put, have a solemn and legal responsibillity to help rebuild the Country of Afghanistan.
Secondly, we have in good faith, in treaties, and in military arrangements given our word to helping the Afghans build and restore their country, military, infastructure, and government. Do we no longer believe in our word? Do we no longer believe in our honor? We have spilt blood in the same mud alongside these heroic men who have put themselves, and their families in grave danger by siding with us. How can we abandon them? Very simply put, We Can Not!
Third, what about our Allies? Afghanistan is not a US Mission alone. ISAF is a NATO Mission that has in addition to NATO, Non-NATO Countries. Would these people stating we should withdraw and basically cut-and-run also be able to publicly state we should abandon our allies? If we withdraw unilaterally from Afghanistan we will never be able to construct a coalition again, and very well may hurt NATO drastically.
Fourth, what of our National Security Policy, and Policy Statements issued by the Obama Administration? It has been stated over and over again in various forms that we as the United States want to defend freedom, secure our Nation, and to safeguard American interests. How does a withdrawal from Afghanistan accomplish any of those? It doesn't!
Finally, what about the enemies of our Nation? If we withdraw from Afghanistan now, we are not only abandoning the Afghan people, and our Allies; we are allowing the Taliban and Al Qaeda to return and create another safe-haven. By withdrawing we would be causing the further and exponential destabilization of the region, of Afghanistan specifically, and putting our country in great danger.
Basically, what these people are doing by advocating an immediate withdrawal is creating the situation that Edmund Burke describes. By, withdrawing now, we would be enabling a victory by the forces of evil in this world. We can not and must not do that!
God Bless America
Bryan
Sphere: Related Content
Helping Our Heartland
48 minutes ago
Posts
8 comments:
And it would be a repeat of quitting while we are on the verge of victory. The people in this country who fear VICTORY are the sort who will run into a burning building because they think it's safer.
when did we 'remove' the govt in Afghanistan?
the question is how many & how long...if the people, the tribes don't cooperate then at some point you have to reassess
you can't rebuild until you clear out...and you can't clear out under ROE that restrict when you can eliminate the enemy while taking significant casualties
Anon,
Whether we liked the Taliban or not, they were the recognized government by us. One, they were the de facto leadership of most of the country, minus the Northern Alliance controlled territories. Two, they were who we contacted when we said to hand over AQ.
You are right, re-assessment or reframing as it is also called must occur continually. But to make statements such as get out now, and no more Troops is not the same. Re-assessment is also exactly what GEN McChrystal has been doing.
I think the biggest question you really are getting at is very valid. How does this end? That is a topic I have written on before, and I am a huge proponent for clear, concise, unambigious guidance on what the endstate and the national objectives are, for the military to accomplish.
But just to cut and run is not an option.
Thank You very much.
Bryan
Bryan,
Great points and I agree, but I think it also important to stress that this is not our first dealings with Afghanistan. We toppled the Soviet controlled communist regime with the help of ISI, and the mujahedin the seeds that would later lead to the formation of Al-Qaeda. Once the Soviets left the Afghans asked for our help and we were too busy enjoying the “peace dividend” to rebuild that country and too short sighted to realize we equipped, armed, and set in motion the machinery which would later commit numerous terrorist attacks on our country. Oh, and they told us they would do it and we never listened.
You are absolutely correct we cannot turn our back on Afghanistan, especially with Iran wanting to become the Southwest and Central Asia hegemon. They will have no shortage of outlets to share their weaponry to continue their proxy war with the west, to say nothing of what our leaving Afghanistan would do to NATO. A prospect I’m sure Russia would enjoy they would gladly see the alliance crumble and allowing the reestablishment of their cold war spheres of influences.
Dave
Dave,
Very good point, and very true. They have a long memory and they remember the last time we ditched them!
NATO and especially Iran comments are dead on!
Hope you guys are doing well!
Bryan
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the blog post From the Front: 09/17/2009 News and Personal dispatches from the front and the home front.
i do hope we stay put,and clean thing up.git the ANA,ANP.trained up.so they can hold there own.get needed,medical care supplies in place.schools,utility.roads.I know we can do this.but because thing can go slow,new commanders,and new admenastaters with a new game plan.thing slow down.we need to stay the course.(sorry)
Anon,
I could not have said it better myself. We must stay the course.
Thank You very much!
Bryan
Post a Comment