Was John McCain Right on Afghanistan, Too?
by tdaxp ~ June 17th, 2008
A request for information:
Recent posts by Soob and Stephen Pampinella have got me thinking about how well the Iraq War has been going in the past year, and how Afghanistan has steadily deteriorated.
It now appears that my criticism of our early Iraq War (have less troops, like in Afghanistan!) was dangerous misinformed. Indeed, one of the reasons I so admire John McCain is that he was right in arguing for mroe troops, and I was wrong in advocating less.
But was McCain right on Afghanistan as well? Did he argue for a “Surge” in Afghanistan similar to our “Surge” in Iraq?
June 17th, 2008 at 5:25 am
We don’t have more troops; George Bush has ruined us. Anyone who ever supported him is complicit in our destruction.
June 17th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Woah! That is quite a bold statement Hank. It’s hard to make such a sweeping judgment of the situation and of a president without some true objective understanding of the situation. Which is hard to surmise given we all hold certain biases and aren’t completely informed.
I give you props tdaxp for admitting your fault in assessment of the situation.
June 17th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I did some light digging and the only thing I come up with is his wanting US bases in Afghanistan. I have serious doubts on what a surge in Afghanistan would accomplish. The Talibans influence and operations are centered in Pakistan. If there’s to be a surge that’s where it should take place.
June 17th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
“George Bush has ruined us.”
What Glenn said.
June 19th, 2008 at 9:16 am
This article recently posted on Dr.Barnett’s blog shows something that is working well in Afghanistan:
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11402695
The US Army is successfully waging COIN in Afghanistan by building roads. As one of the officers quoted in the article says “Where the roads end the insurgents begin.”
This is a restatement of Dr.Barnett’s “Disconectedness defines danger”.
Robert Byrd made a political career by getting roads built in West Virginia. Surely the political success of Hamid Karzai is as valuable to the US as the political success of Robert Byrd. Come up with a slush fund of a few million dollars a year for roads that Karzai can award as political plums to reward political favors. Don’t send money into Kabul. That will just get stolen. Instead let Karzai pick where the roads will be built and which locals will be hired. Each road connects more Afghans a little closer to the Core. The process of determining where the roads get built helps strengthen the Afghan central government.
June 20th, 2008 at 6:17 am
Hank,
Are you considering the world economy (which is much stronger, broader, and deeper than it was only a few years ago), our big war force (which is largely unchanged), our COIN capacity (which has gone from almost nothing to nearing cycling effectivley in Iraq), or some other measure?
Glenn,
One of the reasons I created this blog was to catch contradictions in my thinking. I’m glad it worked in this case.
Soob,
Good point on Pakistan. Iran also supports Sadr and other thugs, but the government is strong enough that it can make strategic decisions (such as supporting SIIC and Dawa, who are also our friends). I don’t think Islamabad is that competent.
Mark in Texas,
Public infrastructure development is certainly part of COIN, but the most striking success in elite has been the ground-up coopting of local elites into Concerned Citizens Brigades and other entities. That’s manpower-intensive, a game changer (at least in Iraq), and that’s something a Surge is needed to accomplish.