The American Military, Afghanistan's Lord and Savior

I hate to jump the gun and comment on President Obama's Afghanistan strategy before he gives his speech tomorrow, but I'm feeling fired up.

I've always been a bit wishy-washy on Afghanistan. Certainly they have nothing resembling a stable, legitimate government. The "democratically elected" politicians are passive at best and corrupt at worst. The would-be-again Taliban government is a threat to human rights. Living conditions in Afghanistan are incredibly low for the vats majority of the population, with little hope of educational or economic achievement. The constant state of fear probably doesn't help much. There is the threat of India and Pakistan and their nuclear weapons caches. Terrorist attacks are frequent and unsettling. 

In the end, though, Afghanistan is not our problem. Yes, when the Taliban was in power and Al-Qaeda was allowed to function without intervention, they was a distinct threat to the security of Americans. But it's not 2001 anymore, it's 2009. It is time to stop fighting a war we cannot win.

I don't mean to say that we should simply pull our 70,000 troops out and wish the Afghanis all the best. It's much too late for that. We've gone and gotten ourselves involved, and it has become our responsibility, and the responsibility of the international community at large, to make Afghanistan a safe place for its citizens. 

I really don't think that the way to do that is by sending another 30,000 troops there. It's not going to help. It's going to increase anti-American sentiment, increase our appearance as ignorant, aggressive imperialists trying to force our beliefs on everyone else. It's also an atrocious waste of money. Neal Conan quoted on "Talk of the Nation" today a figure that it's costing us $1,000,000 per year per soldier to keep troops over there. 

If we're going to spend money we don't have (and we definitely don't have it), let's spend it on something useful. Let's build more schools. Hospitals. Libraries. Town halls. Police stations. Provide plumbing, electricity, clean water, internet access. Invest in small businesses and agriculture. Let's build an Afghanistan that is empowered and informed and can withstand every suicide bomber, roadside bomb, and IED the Taliban throws at it.