Hence, following a recent reassessment of the war by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal,
U.S. commander in Afghanistan, the Obama administration is contemplating deploying
20,000 to 40,000 U.S. troops -- on top of the 21,000 already pledged. Moreover,
billions have been spent building irrigation canals, schools, hospitals and factories.
Civilian advisers are being sent to encourage farmers to grow other cash crops besides
opium poppies. Western aid money has been used to establish a massive Afghan army,
a large police force and a swollen government bureaucracy.
Gen. McChrystal said this week that the situation is "serious," but not impossible.
He still believes victory is within reach. His new strategy is to protect Afghan
civilians from Taliban attacks. He also wants to create a lucrative jobs programs
and improve local government services. The goal is to win the "hearts and minds"
of the Afghan people. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says
we must combat Afghanistan's "culture of poverty." Call it humanitarian war through
social engineering.
Mr. Obama's policy will result in a major American defeat -- one that will signal
the end of America as a superpower and expose us to the world as a paper tiger.
Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires. The mighty British and Russian armies were
humiliated in drawn-out guerrilla campaigns. The country's mountainous geography
and primitive tribal culture are ideally suited for insurgent warfare. By sending
in more troops, Washington is playing right into the Taliban's hands: We are enabling
the Taliban to pick off our forces one by one as they wage a campaign of attrition.
The Taliban blend with the local population, making it almost impossible for U.S.
forces to distinguish combatants from civilians. American counterinsurgency efforts
are thus alienating some of the locals. Initially welcomed as liberators, we are
now viewed in some quarters as occupiers. Moreover, much of the West's aid money
is siphoned off by greedy politicians in Kabul.
President Hamid Karzai's government is corrupt, venal and ineffective. It barely
controls one-third of the country. It is despised by many Afghans for its brutality
and incompetence. In addition, Mr. Karzai's vice-presidential running mate is a
drug trafficker.
The West's efforts to forge a cohesive national state based on federalism and economic
reconstruction have failed. Warlords are increasingly asserting power in the provinces.
The country is fractured along tribal and ethnic lines. The center cannot hold:
Afghanistan remains mired in anarchy, blood feuds and weak, decentralized rule.
U.S. troops should be deployed to defend U.S. national interests. Their lives should
never be squandered for an experiment in liberal internationalism. In fact, such
a policy is morally grotesque and strategically reckless.
Mr. Obama should quickly withdraw most U.S. forces from Afghanistan. American air
power and small, flexible Special Forces units are more than enough to wipe out
al Qaeda terrorists. The Taliban is too hated to reoccupy the country -- unless
our huge military and economic footprint drives numerous Afghans into the evil,
welcoming arms of extremists.
Afghanistan has been ungovernable and impoverished for centuries. No country --
including America -- can conquer or heal this strange, cursed land.
Jeffrey T. Kuhner is a columnist at The Washington Times and president of the Edmund
Burke Institute.
