Shifting focus to Afghanistan not the solution
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The most bitter topic of discussion for the past five years might be the Iraq war. As if it weren’t bad enough, the taste may become even more unbearable after the Bush administration recently announced that they are considering withdrawing additional combat forces from Iraq in September and reassigning them to Afghanistan in order to meet the need for additional troops in the country.
The growing number of casualties of Afghans and U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan is due to the intensified insurgency of the Taliban and other fighters in the country. More U.S. and allied troops died in Afghanistan than in Iraq in May and June — a trend that has continued this month.
The Pentagon had previously stated that commanders wanted as many as 10,000 additional troops in Afghanistan but with both the Army and Marines being stretched thin between the two countries, officials have struggled to produce the extra forces. Currently, there are around 32,000 U.S. troops deployed in Afghanistan.
The reasons behind fighting the war with Iraq were already cloudy to begin with. First it was to find weapons of mass destruction and then to bring democracy to Iraq. The talk about sending more troops to Afghanistan only makes people question what we were doing in Iraq to begin with if Afghanistan was more of a threat.
Iraq has begun to improve since last year. Its government and military has gained a considerable amount of confidence, and violence and attacks on U.S.-led troops have dropped to the lowest levels since 2004.
Since that’s the case, maybe it’s time the Bush administration turn their attention to Afghanistan.
Focusing so much on Iraq might have helped the country to improve, but it also caused us to neglect the threat that the Taliban pose in Afghanistan, which only allowed the group to grow stronger. Instead of deploying more troops to both Iraq and Afghanistan, diverting the troops might help deal with the shortage.
If we are short on troops because they’re tied up in the Middle East, we won’t have enough resources if another crisis came about.
The Bush administration’s plan to deploy more troops to Afghanistan might make people question the information the public has been given. Has Afghanistan always been a threat or has conflict suddenly gotten worse?
If the Bush administration has known that Afghanistan was the ultimate threat but was too proud to admit that entering Iraq was a mistake, then shame on them. We may now face the possibility of prolonging the fighting on two fronts.
What the Bush administration needs to do is to come up with a more solid plan to end this war, and find a more productive way to speed up the process of pulling out.
Commentary
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Bill Lumberg
(07/14/08 7:37am)Report
Why don’t you just say you think George Bush is a poopy head and get it over with instead of publishing incoherent rambling crap like this?
Tom W.
(07/14/08 8:24am)Report
Really, who taught these “journalists” how to write? Very interesting and relevant topic, but it just got butchered by this editorial. The headline is that troops to Afghanistan isn’t the solution, but spend most of the column with evidence that it is the right thing to do, then conclude that Bush needs a plan to end both wars? How bout a little cohesiveness. Oh, and you think Bush gives a damn about spending his time & resources planning a withdrawal? He’s only in office about 6 more months. The real question should be how should the next president approach the issue of fighting & ending (not necessarily “winning”) these two wars?
J-money
(07/14/08 8:30am)Report
This article is absolutely terrible. If it had only stopped Bush-hating for one moment, a real look into the possible causes of the troop increase in Afghanistan could have been made. If you do more than watch the “whats coming up” snippets on CNN, one would come to realize that there are possible causes outside of President Bush that exist. Take Pakistan for example. The incredible turbulence in the government the last few years, an assassination of a political candidate, problems controlling rural areas are just a few outlined areas where Pakistan has stability issues. Since the Taliban doesn’t care if the mountain they hide in is in Afghanistan or Pakistan, the inability of Pakistan’s government to control outlying regions has significantly aided the Taliban.
I’m sure there are other reasons for the increase in troop levels besides just the small insight I have provided.
“Has Afghanistan always been a threat or has conflict suddenly gotten worse?”
Maybe the editors should have investigated their own question rather than leaving it hanging, as such an answer would really be the only thing of substance in this article.
Mark
(07/14/08 9:12am)Report
The reasons for this war in Afghanistan are clear.
Fifteen people from Saudi Arabia, two from the United Arab Emirates, and one from Egypt and Lebanon attacked us led by a Saudi… So, naturally we must invade Afghanistan, Iraq, and eventually Iran!
Next time those Canadians get lippy we should invade Mexico! That will show them!
Tim
(07/14/08 10:43am)Report
I want to comment in support or in criticism of this editorial, but I’m not really sure what the position is. Just a terrible example of journalism.
I’m guessing this is what happens when the SN can’t steal a story from another news source.
Bleed Green
(07/14/08 11:27am)Report
I think the process for editorials is pretty straight-forward.
1) Everybody gather ‘round in the conference room.
2) Pick a topic, then everybody shout out a semi-coherent sentence pertaining to said topic, making sure to note each sentence down on the white board
3) Type up all of the sentences; order and relevance don’t matter.
4) Slap on an un-related headline
5) PRINT!
What could go wrong?
Zeke
(07/14/08 12:39pm)Report
“2) READ YESTERDAY’S NY TIMES/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/FREE PRESS EDITORIAL AND SWIPE ITS TOPIC, then everybody shout out a semi-coherent sentence pertaining to said topic, making sure to note each sentence down on the white board”
Fixed that for you :)
Bleed Green
(07/14/08 1:31pm)Report
Good lookin’ out, Zeke. :)
Josh
(07/14/08 2:23pm)Report
This is really embarrassing for the university. I’d rather not have an editorial at all than to have them keep printing incoherent uninformed garbage like this.
I’m not being mean. I’m being serious. The State News should drop editorials until they can find people who can at least write and who are willing to do some research before writing.
It is a constant humiliation every single day when the paper comes out.
Alex
(07/14/08 10:35pm)Report
I am SO glad I’m not the only person who thought this was terrible.