Afghan Exposure

At one point in time, the military action in Afghanistan was intended to be a NATO effort with a number of member nations assisting in the efforts to destroy the Taliban and al Qaeda. Several countries, in addition to America, have assigned units to this combat zone and have suffered casualties. Britain has seen 221 of its military killed and France has had 36 suffer loss of live. Obviously America with over 850 deaths has suffered the most but we also have played the largest role and have largest force in place.


As President Obama stalls on a decision whether or not to add more personnel to the Afghanistan effort, our European and British allies have had enough.


Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France, has made it perfectly clear that he will not order the premature withdrawal of the French military but insists that "not one single more" Frenchman will be ordered to risk his life in defending the goals of Hamid Karzai. This same sentiment was clearly present as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently read to Parliament the names of the British dead in the Afghan action. The sentiment of British lawmakers was reported to be overwhelmingly against British citizens "fighting and dying for an Afghan government that is deeply corrupt".


Adding more negativity to America's efforts in Afghanistan are heavily published media reports that Karzai is in office by fraud. Karzai has, it is reported, agreed to a run-off election with his nearest vote-getting opponent after an international supervising panel decreed that the outcome of the recent Afghan nationwide election was improper. The handwriting is on the wall. Unless Karzai is absented from office, Western nations, including the USA, will begin a phase down of military efforts.


The problem is that this Afghan situation is history repeating itself with Afghanistan mimicking the American experience of Vietnam. In that 1960s-1970s conflict, we introduced forces into that fight; a sitting government of South Vietnam was terminated with our help; American favorites were put into office in Saigon; and after many thousand of our troops died we ran like hell. Obama, who is currently unable to decide what to do in Afghanistan, has no desire to make any decision. Our President fears defining a military position; acting on that decision; and then being proven wrong.



His options are: 1) to do nothing and watch Americans die for no defined purpose or 2) increase the number of American military in country and hope for a definitive win in a nation that offers no real future benefit for America or 3) significantly revamp our approach with the implementation of military control efforts via drones, air strikes and commando raids or 4) voice a disgust with the Hamid Karzai regime and order that we run like hell.



The bottom line is that Obama is demonstrating that he is again in over his head and confirms this daily by his decision stalling.