Afghanistan Weekly Reader: What Price Success?
Sometimes it can be difficult to weigh the success of US operations in Afghanistan. Signs of progress in one area are often offset by losses in other areas. We saw this in the news over the past week. A new report from the Department of Defense pointed to progress in building the Afghan security forces, but cautioned that security concerns, particularly the threat posed by insurgents crossing over the Pakistan border, remain. The first meeting of Afghanistan and Pakistan since the assassination of Afghan peace envoy and former president Burhanuddin Rabbani seemed promising, but ultimately failed to lead to a breakthrough in the peace process.
The unambiguous part of our efforts in Afghanistan is how much they have cost, not only in terms of dollars, but also lives. This past Saturday seventeen people, including twelve Americans, were killed in Kabul by a Taliban car bomb. It was the deadliest attack on coalition forces since August. Reflecting on our losses in Afghanistan, and how little we have gained, it’s hardly surprising that support for the war is at all-time low.
ASG
The Iraq Withdrawal: Implications For Afghanistan
Afghanistan Study Group by Mary Kaszynski
The announcement that the US will withdraw virtually all troops from Iraq, as mandated by the 2008 Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), has been met with praise, criticism, and speculation. Mostly about the behind-the-scenes negotiations. Setting aside the political questions – who’s “to blame” for the withdrawal, – let’s take a look at what the facts of the Iraq case may mean for the future of US policy in Afghanistan.
ARTICLES
10-24-11
White House sides with Senate on bill to freeze defense spending
The Hill by John Bennett
The White House has weighed in on the congressional debate about Pentagon spending by siding with a Senate bill that would shrink the Defense Department’s 2012 budget request by $26 billion…The letter [from the administration to Senate appropriators] said the Senate bill’s $513 billion proposed budget, which essentially freezes the agency’s budget for a second, consecutive year “will sustain our strong military.”
10-27-11
In House testimony, Clinton asks for patience on Afghanistan, Pakistan
The Washington Post byKaren DeYoung
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton appealed to skeptical lawmakers for patience and support…“I will be the first to admit that working with our Afghan and Pakistani partners is not always easy,” Clinton told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “But these relationships are advancing America’s national security interests, and walking away from them would undermine those interests.”
10-28-11
Safe havens threaten Afghan goals, report says
Politico by Charles Hoskinson
Coalition forces have made important security gains in Afghanistan and are on track for a full handoff to local forces in 2014, a Pentagon report said Friday, but safe havens in Pakistan and weak Afghan governance continue to threaten that goal…Adding to the concern are continued reports of corruption and dysfunction in the Afghan government, which the report says “has made only limited progress in building the human and institutional capacity necessary for sustainable government.”
CNN Poll: Support for Afghanistan war at all time low
CNN by CNN Political Unit
According to a CNN/ORC International Poll released Friday, only 34% of the public says they support the war in Afghanistan, one point less than the previous low of 35%, with 63% opposed to the conflict.
OPINION
10-25-11
U.S. Iraq Withdrawal a Gift to Iran? No, the U.S. Iraq Invasion Was the Gift to Iran
Time’s Global Spin by Tony Karon
The prime security threat to Iran from Iraq would be the presence of U.S. forces. But they’re leaving, thanks in no small part to the opposition of Iran-allied Shi’ite political parties. So why would Iran want to go and jeopardize those gains? It makes little sense for Iran to start a new war in Iraq when they’re arguably winning the peace.
