It would be wrong to sugarcoat what a Taliban victory would mean for Afghanistan. Many Afghans will suffer when we leave, although leave we must—if not this year, then some other year…
In my almost thirty-five years serving our country as a diplomat, I had only one true regret—my year in Afghanistan, 2009-2010. The camaraderie among the Americans, both civilian and military, who worked at the embassy was inspiring, and the dedication and courage of our Afghan colleagues was humbling. But the good work we did there quickly proved quixotic. I particularly regret that I had been such a strong proponent for the military and civilian surges that took place that year, often taking the lead within the embassy in pushing for more and more civilians to serve alongside our military personnel. It seemed to me at that time—although I had wiser colleagues in the embassy who were very skeptical about the surge(s)—that we owed it to those who had sacrificed their lives to make Afghanistan a better place not to give up, and that we also owed it to the Afghan people, many of whom daily risk their lives believing in a better future for their country because of their unflinching belief in the omnipotence and altruism of the American people. But I was wrong. Terribly wrong. And although President Obama’s decision to go along with that surge was politically astute (or he would have been blamed for our ultimate failure in Afghanistan as well as Iraq) and although that surge, like President Bush’s earlier surge in Iraq in 2007, initially succeeded, it should have been obvious that our success would only be transient and that ultimately our very presence in Afghanistan was a stumbling block to any lasting peace there.
When in Doubt, Dismiss All Doubt
Casinos make money. They make a lot of money. They make their money based on one simple human foible: Men might find it hard to leave the table when they are winning, but they find it far harder to leave when they are losing. This is especially true when both money and prestige are on the line. Only the very best of players knows when to “walk away; know when to run” as that old Kenny Rogers ballad goes. And what most people don’t understand, but every casino manager knows is this: Greed plays only a small part in the reluctance to fold ‘em and leave. The excitement of winning, the sheer delight in overcoming the odds, the testing of manhood, and the certainty of our own specialness all weigh heavily on anyone who tries to get up from the table. And what makes it even harder is that you don’t lose all at once. You decide to double down a few times, and you come up a winner now and then, so you press on, thinking the odds have turned and refusing to notice that short-term wins can’t be kept forever.
What is true at the gaming table is a hundredfold truer in war because there is one thing that makes it even harder to leave: an audience. And when the whole world is your stage and the prestige, honor, and loyalty of the world’s greatest power is on display, walking away becomes implacably difficult. We have on occasion, of course, walked away, but only at great moral and psychic cost. It took us enormous losses of life and treasure to leave Vietnam, and today we still argue long into the night—as do many gamblers—that if we had only stayed a little longer it would all have turned out differently… if we had only not deserted our allies, if we had not been so self-indulgent, if we had not grown tired in the face of a relentless enemy. We deserted that battlefield, but the wounds took a generation even to start to heal, and the scars will remain for many generations to come.
Why We Cannot Win
Before the end of May the Pentagon will recommend to President Trump a surge in troops to break the “stalemate” with the Taliban. He is almost certain to accept the recommendations. Like his two immediate predecessors, President Trump will not want to be seen to “lose” a war, and so he will likely conclude—despite his campaign rhetoric about not getting bogged down in aimless, endless conflicts—that he must give the military whatever they ask for. He will also feel compelled to accept the recommendations because like those gamblers at the gaming table, he assumes he can do better than his predecessors. He will be told and he will believe that the reason we have not won the war yet—just as in Vietnam and Iraq—is because we have been fighting with one arm tied behind our back. And on a tactical level, our military leaders will be right. More liberal and flexible Rules of Engagement (ROE) will enable our military to conduct more lethal and effective actions against enemy targets. So the next surge of troops, accompanied by new ROEs, will prove tremendously, albeit only temporarily, effective, breaking the stalemate and allowing both the Pentagon and the President to declare that the tide has turned and victory is assured—much as the Pentagon and President Bush did after the 2007 Iraq surge.
But these tactical gains come at severe strategic costs. First, the new ROEs will result in greater civilian casualties that will inevitably be criticized in the media and turn public opinion even more against the war. Inside Afghanistan itself, the mounting casualties will further erode Afghan confidence in us. Second, even without the new ROEs, our military and civilian leaders still have not come to terms with the simple truth that we are not welcome in Afghanistan. Most of the Afghan people, even many who appreciate our assistance, are uncomfortable with our being an occupying force in their land. Some cultures and peoples react more negatively to foreign occupation, and the Afghans, like most of the Islamic world, are among the most intolerant and easily inflamed when strangers overstay their welcome. Third, we have failed for sixteen years to articulate what a realistic victory looks like. If the point of our invasion was to rid Afghanistan of Al Qaeda, then we should have left by 2003. If it was to eliminate the Taliban, then we should never have let them escape to Pakistan. To rid the country of the Taliban now would take more, much more in terms of manpower and money and time than is politically palatable to the American public. And it would also require us to face the fact that Pakistan, the enemy we insist on calling an ally, does not want us to win and will do all in its power to prevent our success. Is the Pentagon and White House really ready to punish Pakistan for harboring the Taliban and providing them support? There is nothing emanating from the White House or Pentagon to suggest that either is prepared to risk chaos in Pakistan in order to win in Afghanistan. But without that confrontation with Pakistan, no surge can ultimately succeed.
But perhaps most importantly, and what neither the Pentagon nor the White House wants to recognize, is the simple reality that someday we must leave. And when we do, all the old wounds and animosities and all the radical ideologies will explode with a vengeance. The Taliban is in no rush. They know they can wait us out. All we can do with this latest surge—as with the Bush surge and the Obama surge—is delay the inevitable. Nothing more. We do not belong there, and our very presence feeds opposition to our objectives. I am sure that when the first Crusaders entered Jerusalem in 1099, they thought they were there for good and that the “surges” (subsequent Crusades) of the next 170 years would ensure an enduring victory. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
The Cost of Leaving
While this essay deplores those who delude themselves into thinking we can succeed in Afghanistan, it would be wrong to sugarcoat what a Taliban victory would mean for Afghanistan. Many Afghans will suffer when we leave, although leave we must—if not this year, then some other year. And when we finally do, it is those Afghans who have stood steadfast beside us who will suffer most. Primary amongst them will be the women. For nearly a full generation now women in Afghanistan have had access to education and good health care. They have had the freedom to work and to own businesses and to enter politics. All this will likely change once we leave. It is also quite likely that the country itself will splinter, with the Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Hazara continuing the fight against the central government if it is controlled by a resurgent Taliban. The one silver lining, if you can call it that, is that the next Afghan government will be unfriendly toward Iran. There is also the prospect of internecine warfare among various factions within the Taliban and between the Taliban and ISIS.
But these silver linings should not allow us to ignore the negative consequences of our leaving. Our only solace is that we cannot forestall forever our own departure, and our continual involvement in Afghanistan is, on balance, exacerbating rivalries among the various people of Afghanistan and worsening the overall image of the United States.
Sixteen years is long enough for any occupation. At this stage, Afghanistan will have to find its own way forward. If and when it does stabilize, we should be ready to offer economic support and technical assistance. But we cannot save those who do not want to be saved by us.
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It is possible to make drastic changes. The early Muslims managed to invade, occupy and transform the Middle East and Central Asia in the centuries after the death of Muhammad, to include Afghanistan. Spain under the great Queen Isabella reconquered the Iberian Peninsula and did what was necessary to secure it for Christendom from the hands of the Muslim warlords. Change is inevitable. It is possible for Rome to conquer, destroy, and replace Carthage. It just takes the right kind of cultural capital, something ancient Rome had thanks to brave men like Cato and his mantra, Cartago delenda est.
I am not saying the US (or rather the globalist elitist led coalition) can fix Afghanistan given the current cultural capital we have to work with (a rotten anti-Christ secularism), and in that case you are probably right we should just quit, rather I am saying that it is technically possible. If we were able to restore and build on our Christian cultural foundation we could potentially acquire the tools necessary to liberate those lands from a ruthless and barbaric form of radical Islam. I am not sure we have the capacity to acquire the tools that our ancestors have had to varying degrees of success in the past, but I believe its the only way for real progress to take place. We have to capture the imagination of people across classes, ethnicities, and other statuses and unite them to the common purpose. Christianity has the capacity to unite those who otherwise do not have much in common and when it does do it yields tremendous results for the sake of good honest folk, however it comes at the expense of the wicked, and since the wicked largely rule the world, they are reluctant to give it up.
I have no idea what the right answer is to stay or go. Probably it ultimately won’t be the thing that really makes that big a difference. Rather it will be the collective doings of the millions of people who make the abstract idea of America or “the West” work. And who knows how to get the eaches excited about being virtuous. Prayer and ride the tiger.
Daniel, thanks for your thoughtful comments. I agree that it is “possible to make drastic changes.” The question is whether it is worth it to us in terms of resources, time, and blood. It’s like the Vietnam War in a sense. Of course we could have won it. We could win any war–and transform any society–we choose to–provided we are willing to do all that is necessary. But the time and resources necessary to enable success in Afghanistan, in my opinion, simply would not have been worth the benefits to our national interests. It would have taken a commitment of at least 10 and probably 20 years and tens of billions of more dollars in order to even have a chance of success. BTW, your concerns about radical Islam are well justified and no American administration, including the current one sadly, really is ready to deal with it. President Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia indicates this administration will be fooled as were all its predecessors. You have probably already read it, but if not, you may want to read the chapter on Islam in Hilaire Belloc’s book “The Great Heresies,” written around 1936. While all the rest of the world was worried about fascism and communism, he saw clearly that the greatest future threat to Western civilization would be a renewed conflict with radical Islam.
Dear Mr. Mussomeli, Mr. Belloc was right and the only question worth discussing is how to defeat the evil of Islam. I did not say defeat Islam. To ponder what Belloc meant, it is necessary to concentrate on the word ‘heresy’. A wise world leader suggested, said in his own way, what is left in Islam when the evil is stripped away is Christianity. To bring good out of evil sometimes takes a long time, and unrelenting sacrifice. As the web of Islam continues to entrap, only those who forget the duty we owe to our posterity would betray the righteousness and justice that has been passed on to us going back, not just on exiting out of the cave into the light, but also going back to the Garden, a Garden we have been charged to restore.
Very thoughtful essay whose points/conclusions should be studied and respected across all political lines. I wanted to comment on the statement made by Al that “what is left in Islam when you strip away the evil is Christianity.” With all due respect it is that sort of thinking that will guarantee that our children’s grandchildren will be having these same discussions. I’m not a Muslim but I can only imagine what sort of emotions can be stirred up by telling someone that their religion is inherently evil. Imagine saying “what is left in the Catholic Church when you strip away all the evil is Protestantism.”
Al/Nate – Thank you both for your comments. For whatever it is worth, I see sense in both points of view. I have lived among Muslims for half my adult life and in general I find them more generous, kind, and reliable than the average Westerners I know. On the other hand, I have read the Koran twice (sadly, only in translation) and there are many passages which I find disturbing. And certainly Mohammed’s life itself is riddled with disturbing precedents. I think Al’s point about the increasing sway of Islam is valid and worrisome. But that is no one’s fault but our own. Our society is so secularized, so alienating, and so focused on consumerism and instant gratification that a group that is more devoted, disciplined, and more serious about religion is destined to attract both more converts and more lunatics. Europe is no longer a Christian society. All that is left is empty cathedrals and hollow souls. And nature especially abhors a spiritual vacuum. But Nate also has a very good point, in my opinion, because Muslims, even the least devout, take their creed and their prophet very seriously, and we need to ensure we don’t preclude dialogue with them by how we characterize their faith.
Mr. Mussomeli, Nate: The wisdom of ‘keep talking’ was a lesson learned that I adhere to as truth eventually rises to the top, like cream. It has been premised that, as practiced in today’s political spectrum, liberalism or progressivism has within its ideology its own destruction. Evil can hide behind platitudes for only as long truth is withheld and/or denied. It is not that a religion is evil, though Mr. Mussomeli’s findings of worrisome Koranic passages and disturbing precedents in Mohammad’s life are historically accurate, it is the action of the humans exercising the authority of their faith that have proven to be evil and that evil is not restricted to a single faith. As far as characterizing a faith, life actions of adherents of a faith characterize their faith. Hopefully the history our grandchildren or great grandchildren or our great, great grandchildren will discuss speaks of the promised peace, the blasphemy of committing evil in the name of God having long ago ceased, and we have become one according to God’s will.