The Obama Administration Can’t Hear You
Will Keola Thomas – Afghanistan Study Group
More voices calling for a new way forward in Afghanistan and further signs that we may be reaching a tipping point in America’s longest war.
Yesterday, MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan Show hosted Lt. Col. Anthony Schaffer of the Center for Advanced Defense Studies and Afghanistan Study Group member David Cortright for a discussion of the slow-motion train wreck that is current U.S. involvement in the Afghan conflict.
Definitely a “discussion,” rather than a “debate,” as the voices raised on the show were all in agreement that the current militaristic strategy will never solve (and is, in fact, exacerbating) the political problem at the heart of the matter in Afghanistan.
As members of the growing chorus urging the Obama administration to change its tune on the current military-centric approach to Afghanistan, Schaffer and Cortright’s voices are definitely in harmony, but they sing in slightly different keys:
Cortright in responsible-withdrawal-A-minor:
“We need to start the troop withdrawals in July. But that needs to be combined…with a whole series of other measures.” (direct talks with the Taliban leading to a cease-fire, a security agreement with the Afghan government to complement a phased withdrawal of US troops, strengthening social and economic development assistance, etc.)
Schaffer in get-the-hell-out-B-major: “I would start the withdrawal tomorrow.”
Guest host Matt Miller pitched in with this prescient and timely quote from Pultizer prize-winning historian Barbara W. Tuchman’s book, “The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam”:
“A phenomenon noticeable throughout history regardless of place or period is the pursuit by government of policies contrary to their own interests.”
Which prompted Cortright to hit the discussion’s high note:
“It’s been long past the time when there’s any benefit we could get from pursuing this military operation in Afghanistan…This current government (in Afghanistan) is unworthy of the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform.”
Alas, the Obama administration seems, at best, tone-deaf to both the clarion call of history warning them of their folly and the cries of even their most loyal supporters urging them to avoid disaster (witness the Democratic National Committee taking the unprecedented step of passing a resolution calling for the administration to begin the “…significant and sizable reduction (of U.S. forces) no later than July 2011.”).
Seen in the worst light, the Obama administration is playing hear-no-evil as the American public begs them to change course.
On Monday Defense Secretary Robert Gates declared that the U.S. may maintain a military presence in the Afghanistan past the 2014 deadline for the end of combat operations. That same day, Rasmussen Reports released the results of a poll showing that for the first time a majority of likely voters want a timetable to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan within one year. Further evidence of the continuous erosion of support for the war in both parties.
Secretary of State Clinton’s response to the American public’s call for change is reminiscent of someone plugging fingers in their ears and saying “la-la-la-la” at the sound of bad news. As she stated in a December press conference:
“I’m well aware of the popular concern, and I understand it. But I don’t think leaders — and certainly this president will not — make decisions that are matters of life and death and the future security of our nation based on polling. That would not be something that you will see him, or any of us, deciding.”
Of course the Obama administration can continue to ignore the public opinion polls demanding withdrawal from Afghanistan. That is, until those officially sanctioned opinion polls called elections come around in November. But to wait until then to listen to the voice of reason and realize that the pursuit of the current failed strategy is against our own best interests is truly the march of folly.
