Right Again

President Obama has consistently supported our war effort in Afghanistan, on the campaign trail and through his presidency. He’s called it a “war of necessity.” He’s also called it the right war and other similar things. So far, though, it’s just been talk.
The thing is, now Obama is getting to the juncture where he is actually going to have to do something. Now we’re going to see whether or not Obama is going to live up to all the statements he has made up until now. The Democrats have never really been for the war, and they certainly haven’t been supportive of any of the measures to effectively continue the fight in these theatres. Obama himself has been condemning of the conduct of the Bush administration in the war in Afghanistan, saying they didn’t ask the “tough questions.” In reality, the Bush administration did conduct an in-depth examination and turned it over to the new administration, which now draws from that strategic review.
What I’m wondering is whether or not Obama is willing to take that risk. Will he risk alienating some or perhaps many of his party members? Will he follow the advice of his generals and give them the support they need? I’m hoping he does the right thing and listens to those generals. I’m sure no one is going to argue that those men, who have been rigorously trained for just these situations, know far more about running a war than he does.
Still, despite all of Obama’s words, he has had the proposal from his generals for months and still has not acted on it. Hasn’t done a thing. I personally find that disconcerting and little worrying. In order to win over there, we need to listen to our military. We don’t need any more demoralization. A Washington Post-ABC poll said that nearly one third of Americans think the United States is “losing.”
The truth of it is, though, the war in Afghanistan is winnable. Our military leaders on the ground over there have been telling us this from the start, and hold to their statements. Progress is being made over there. There is the Afghan National Army, which is now over 80,000 strong, and is well received by both the populace and our own forces. The Afghan people see it as a force for peace and unity. Afghanistan has also responded very well to development work, which takes hold quickly.
We need more troops over there, though. We can’t revert back to our minimalist presence there. That was what put is in the difficult position we are in now. In the words of Afghan defense minister Abdul Rahim, “It can only be justified if your will is weakened and you want to come up with excuses.” I agree with him. We shouldn’t let our will be weakened either. We have dealt with worse and won. Case in point: South Korea. According to Afghan expert Marin Strmecki, “In the mid-1950s, South Korea was worse off by most social, economic and political indicators than Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban.” Now look at South Korea. They are a player in the world now. We don’t even need to go that far with Afghanistan. They don’t need to be a powerhouse nation, just stable.
We can do it. We can win. We just need our president to do the right thing here. We just need him to listen to his generals and let them do what they do best. I hope he has the political will to do so.