- The Detrimental Stubbornness and the Unending Afghan War
By: Samiullah Doorandesh
The revelation of the Afghanistan Papers, a trove of documents regarding the Afghan war, by The Washington Post is another twist in the intricate puzzle and decade-long unending cycle of violence, predicament, and destruction there. The documents that were publicized after a strenuous legal battle over a period of three years have ignited public fury in the USA and initiated a new discussion about the unwinnable Afghan War. The documents, containing 400 interviews of senior military and government officials, have elucidated that the successive US governments misled the public about the ground situation and gloomy prospect of war in Afghanistan— the war that has cost more than $1 trillion, 2400 American lives, extermination of tens of thousands Afghan civilians and troops, and with no certain end to it.
Since the first day of the US military invasion of Afghanistan, the US military generals and the top echelon of the Bush administration knew that even disengagement, let alone a clear military victory, from this region would be difficult if not impossible. The war, which was initiated as a result of a quick reaction to the terrorist incidents in the USA, is taking nearly two decades to reach a conclusion. Even the top American military strategists and policymakers misapprehended the strategic culture of Afghans, the uniqueness of its geography, the uneasy history of foreign interventions, the complexity of heterogeneous ethnic composition and the fact that entering Afghanistan is easy but the exit extremely tricky.
There is no sense in keeping the public in delusion and factitious hope. The escalation of an unwinnable war has resulted in further destruction of Afghanistan and the loss of US lives. There is no shame in accepting defeat, it is rather a trait of brave. Ultimately, The US generals will have to submit to the fact, like their predecessor British and Soviets, that the Afghan geography can’t be conquered.
Recent years have not only witnessed an alarming decline in US public support to the US engagement in the Afghan War, believed to be an unnecessary entanglement in a foreign war, but also a swift rise in suspicions about the ambiguous US objectives in Afghanistan and the US war effort against terrorism. The massive support of the Afghan populace for a peace process, which will possibly ensure the considerable dwindling of the US footprint, if not complete exit of US troops, suggest that it is weary of the foreign intervention. The skepticism of the Afghan public is substantiated by the rising toll of civilian casualties resulting from airstrikes.
After the death of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad and the comprehensive obliteration of Al Qaeda networks from Afghanistan and the transition of security to the Afghan National and Defense Forces, it has been a while that such questions have been floating in Afghan politics and regional media with no heed by US officials: Why is the USA still present in Afghanistan if it cannot defeat the Taliban? What are the common objectives of the USA and its host Afghanistan? Why is the USA reluctant to accept defeat in an unwinnable war? Why lie about perpetual failed strategies and ignore the Afghan civilian casualties? Why are the US military generals so obsessed with a military solution to the Afghan quagmire?
Despite the fact that Pentagon has rejected the allegations that it misled Congress and the US public about the Afghan war, it not only shows the accuracy of revealed documents but also becomes interesting, when we link it to the nonsensical tweets of President Trump about killing 10 million Afghans to win the war in a week. These Papers authenticate the helplessness and desperateness of Trump and his military commanders.
The publication of the papers took place in a time when Donald Trump’ special envoy for the Peace process with Taliban, Zalmay Khalilzad, is nearer than ever to ink an agreement about the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. If Khalilzad champions a US-favored peace deal and President Trump succeeds in bringing the US troops home, this extraordinary feat, in which his predecessors clearly failed, will bring enormous popularity to a president who is battling impeachment. It might even secure re-election for office for the besieged Donald Trump. What they need is the courage to accept failure and go on. Denial and stubbornness won’t help either the USA or Afghanistan. It has further complicated the situation.
There is no sense in keeping the public in delusion and factitious hope. The escalation of an unwinnable war has resulted in further destruction of Afghanistan and the loss of US lives. There is no shame in accepting defeat, it is rather a trait of brave. Ultimately, The US generals will have to submit to the fact, like their predecessor British and Soviets, that the Afghan geography can’t be conquered.
