Feb 01 2007
Democrats Press for Troop Increase in Afghanistan
GUEST: J. Alexander Thier, senior advisor in the Rule of Law program at the US Institute of Peace, former legal advisor to Afghanistan’s Constitutional and Judicial Reform Commissions in Kabul
While there has been opposition to any increase in US troops in Iraq, there is a near political consensus on any such move in Afghanistan. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a Congressional delegation recently returned from Afghanistan, calling for increased attention to the war-torn nation. Pelosi asserted that the US’s European allies must do more to help defeat the continuing Taliban resurgence. In 2005 Nancy Pelosi made statements claiming that the war in Afghanistan was over. She now calls it “the forgotten war in Afghanistan.” The Bush administration has proposed a $10.6 billion aid package for Afghanistan which the Congressional delegation has promised they would “expeditiously consider.” About $8.6 billion would be for training and equipping Afghan police and soldiers; $2 billion would go toward reconstruction. There are currently 31,000 troops under NATO command in Afghanistan, of which 11,000 are American. An additional 10,000 US troops operate independently of NATO. Pelosi’s trip comes two weeks after Senator Hiliary Clinton visited Afghanistan. Clinton, who has announced her 2008 Presidential bid said that U.S. leaders should be talking about increasing troop numbers in Afghanistan instead of Iraq. According to Marvin Weinbaum, a scholar at the Middle East Institute, “‘It makes a lot of sense [for Democrats] to highlight Afghanistan as where the real source of terrorism began and where it still has to be dealt with so that the Democrats come out of this not looking like they’re weak-kneed when it comes to battling terrorism.”
4 Responses to “Democrats Press for Troop Increase in Afghanistan”
Alexander Thier has no idea what he is talking about, or more likely is a part of our standing disinformation army.
In Afghanistan, the tribes are always at war footing, if not warring, to protect the meager resources of their territory. NATO aside, even the hobgoblins from Mars can easily find a welcome mat from half the tribes, the mix of the supporting tribes dynamically changing with the direction of the wind.
The support for increased troop levels at home is a red herring. As the control of the oil rich Central Asian dictatorships is slipping away thanks to their off-the-market bi-lateral energy deals with China and Russia, the dream for a profitable oil pipeline through Afghanistan is fading away.
The only reason to keep troops in Afghanistan to help facilitate the Iran offensive.
Then of course there is the corporate need for war and bureaucratic hysteresis!
Just heard the news we are handing over a sizable amount of military hardware to the Afghanis. Bet you a dollar half of this equipment will find its way to the Mullah’s banditos in a couple of weeks.
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