Sunday’s NYT Magazine contained a lengthy article about the Afghan War that was largely written from the perspective of a single soldier who became increasingly disillusioned with our government’s tactics over time. The author of the article clearly believes that the war has been a failure. Is that true?
Yes and no. Yes, we have been unable to destroy the Taliban; that will not be possible as long as they have the support of the Pakistani military and we lack the will to turn the war into a far larger and more dangerous regional conflict. Even worse, it has become increasingly clear after seventeen years that the Afghan military and government will not be able to do the job by themselves for the foreseeable future. On the other hand, we have been able to keep enough pressure on the Taliban to prevent any international terrorist events along the lines of 9/11, and to maintain control over a large portion of the country. That’s a draw, and a draw is not the same as a defeat, even if we haven’t been able to accomplish our more ambitious objectives.
Is the war worth it, and are there other plausible alternatives? More on that tomorrow.