America’s Longest War Must Continue

To understand the war in Afghanistan, which began in 2001, it is important to note the state of Afghanistan before the American invasion. After the 1978 Communist coup d'état in the Central Asian nation and the subsequent Soviet invasion, Afghanistan had been mired in decades of chaos when, in 1996, the Taliban took Kabul and proclaimed the formation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Once in power, not only did the Taliban impose a particularly harsh interpretation of Islamic law on their populace, they also provided a safe haven for Osama Bin Laden and his terrorist organization, Al-Qaeda, in Afghanistan. Following the attacks of 9/11, which were masterminded by Bin Laden, the Bush administration initiated a forceful removal of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan through Operation Enduring Freedom.

On October 7th, 2001, the United States launched its invasion of Afghanistan, and this phase of the War in Afghanistan was a resounding success. Operation Enduring Freedom drove the Taliban out of the nation in little over two months. Furthermore, it gave the U.S. an opportunity to reshape the destiny of a nation that experienced two decades of almost continuous suffering to create a functioning democracy. What an opportunity this was—and how the U.S. squandered it.

In liberating Afghanistan, the U.S. attempted to avoid the fate of those who had invaded the nation known as the “graveyard of empires,” from the British in the Anglo-Afghan Wars to the Soviets in the Soviet-Afghan War. They made it clear that their intent in Afghanistan was not to serve as a permanent occupying force and instead helped the nation draft a new constitution and organize free elections. This attempt to create a stable, democratic Afghanistan could have worked, but for a snag.

As the U.S. uprooted the Taliban from power, many of its leaders fled to Pakistan and regrouped, and within a few years began their attempt to retake Afghanistan with the tacit support of the ISI, Pakistan’s secret service. The war in Afghanistan, as we know it today, had begun in earnest.

Meanwhile, after the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, the Obama administration had assumed power in the United States and was determined to withdraw from President Bush’s folly in Iraq and redouble American efforts in Afghanistan and counter the Taliban insurgency. In keeping with that vision, President Obama in 2009 ordered a troop surge in Afghanistan, with the goal of stabilizing the nation, a goal which he temporarily achieved. By 2012, the levels of violence in Afghanistan had begun to recede–but the Taliban was not defeated. 

However, In 2010, President Obama made a fateful decision: he began the process of withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. As a result, the Taliban, not yet eradicated, plotted its revenge. As their troops withdrew, the U.S. government endeavored to train Afghan soldiers to fight the Taliban, who they knew would try to plan a comeback. Despite their efforts, the resulting Afghan Army—though well-funded and well-equipped—was corrupt and incompetent. When the Taliban made their expected attempt to regain power, the Afghan armed forces simply couldn’t stop them. By 2016, the Taliban was ascendant, and the Afghan government was backed against a wall. President Obama finally made the decision to halt the withdrawal (albeit too late), and Afghanistan remained mired in chaos, with remaining U.S armed forces serving as the principal barrier stopping a Taliban resurgence.

That year, a revolution of sorts was brewing in the United States: the Trump Revolution. Brash, uncouth, and unabashedly populist, Trump reshaped American politics with his “America First” doctrine, harkening back not to the ideas of the Reagan Revolution, but further to one that helped propel Warren G. Harding to the White House: a desire to step back from an interventionist foreign policy. This comparison might seem odd at first, as Harding promised a return to normalcy and Trump promised a departure from it. Yet, in Harding’s day, war was the exception, and by Trump’s day, it had become the norm. If people were tired of the exception that was war in 1920, it’s understandable how they would be tired of the norm that was it in 2016.

Yet the United States cannot (and before an English teacher corrects me, I must clarify: should not) withdraw from Afghanistan. The U.S. almost vanquished the Taliban once and can do it again. Yes, it must surge troops to the nation again, and yes, these troops may have to remain there for another decade. But it is not enough to simply stabilize Afghanistan, for as we have seen, this can be quickly destroyed by a resurgent Taliban. For it to be anything but a temporary state, we must seek to end the scourge that is the Taliban once and for all, by, among other things, imposing harsh penalties on nations whose governments either shelter or fund the Taliban. We must also seek to secure the Afghan border to ensure that the Taliban is not able to once again regroup in Pakistan to attack Afghanistan. And once the Taliban has been destroyed, the United States can begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.

If the United States leaves Afghanistan prematurely, the consequences will be dire. The Taliban will likely return to power in Afghanistan. They will shelter terrorists who, like Bin Laden, will aim to attack the United States and its allies. And someday, these terrorists will once again attack the United States or its allies, forcing the U.S to respond militarily, thus once again starting a war in Afghanistan.

by SANJAY MALLIKARJUN