Afghanistan Remembered

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Public and political attention has turned increasingly toward Afghanistan recently, in light of President Obama’s promises to stem violence in the region. Following Obama’s approval of a 17,000-troop addition to the allied forces in the country, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) hosted a panel discussion entitled “Afghanistan on the Brink” to talk about the challenges and opportunities unique to the situation that we should expect in the near future.

“The situation today is dangerous but not desperate in Afghanistan,” said Lieutenant General David Barno of the National Defense University, who was the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan between 2003 and 2005. Barno was one of the members on a panel which outlined several of the challenges that will need to be overcome in order to make progress in Afghanistan over the next few years. Several weeks ago Senator Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., spoke at the Heritage Foundation on the same subject. The approaches of the Senator and the panel at AEI this week had similarities and striking differences.

The panel emphasized the necessity of cooperation with our allies in achieving our goals on the ground in Afghanistan. In outlining the primary challenges facing the coalition, Barno said that “first and foremost is the challenge of unity of effort.” He described the situation in Afghanistan as one in which the country is divided among various national forces occupying different regions—the British, Canadians, Dutch, Australians and Americans, each operating separately but cooperatively. Barno noted that it will be difficult, but necessary, to take the aggregate of these various efforts and “forge that into a unified effort with a unified strategy.”

Gary Schmitt of AEI agreed, saying, “If a corner is to be turned in Afghanistan, this year or next year, it will be done with the help of our allies.” Critics of the coalition war effort have complained that our allies have devoted too few troops to the efforts, and that some countries, Germany and France in particular, should be expected to offer more. Regardless, says Schmitt, “the reality is that if those forces weren’t there, we’d be in very dire straits trying to replace them.”

While the panel at AEI focused largely on how to pursue a master strategy for coalition forces in Afghanistan, Senator Lieberman focused only on building U.S.-Afghan relations. His “five surges” proposal involved making the application of our resources more coherent, increasing civilian capacity in Afghanistan, building up the Afghan army, engaging Afghanistan’s direct neighbors in diplomacy and commitment to the war effort here at home.

While many of Senator Lieberman’s thoughts were shared by the panelists at AEI, Lieberman emphasized that more, and more direct, U.S. application of power was the key to success in Afghanistan, the AEI panel believed that the answer lies in working more closely with our allies.

As difficult as it has been to coordinate efforts with a range of allies on the ground in a foreign country, Schmitt points out that we do have reason to be hopeful. “It’s really quite remarkable that we’re there, that NATO is there,” he said. “If fifteen years ago you would have asked someone where NATO would be today, you’d get a big belly-laugh if they said that we’d be involved in a ground war in Central Asia.” Schmitt went on to explain that NATO has gone from an organization that was seen as virtually dead to one which is able to organize, mobilize and wage a ground war in a hostile region.

President Obama’s task in the coming months and years will be to help formulate and push a successful U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, and he will be advised by many sides, each emphasizing different and competing priorities. Frederick Kagan of AEI drew a final conclusion about what may be expected of Obama as he continues to shape U.S.-Afghan policy this year. Rather than engaging in extensive operations immediately, he said, “We can expect to set the conditions this year for more decisive operations to follow in 2010.” The groundwork should be set by President Obama now so that the influx of troops that will begin soon is part of a broader strategy to bring peace to Afghanistan with the help of our allies.

To read more on Senator Lieberman’s “five surges” proposal for Afghanistan, click here.

Daniel Allen is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.