Afghanistan: Doomed from the Start

[Right_in_Virginia]

Afghanistan: Doomed from the Start
American Mind, Aug 18, 2021, Michael Anton

The mission that the United States—or, to be more precise, the George W. Bush Administration—set for itself in Afghanistan was doomed from the beginning. It declared unrealizable goals, which experience quickly showed were unrealizable, and then instead of learning from that experience, doubled and tripled down over and over. And not just the Bush Administration but the entire bipartisan foreign policy establishment. If the hoary cliché is true that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, then American policy in Afghanistan over the last 20 years is a textbook example.

[...]

In the context of the day, then, a response to 9/11 was required. But what response? The Bush Administration’s initial answer was sound, even brilliant: punish al-Qaeda and its Taliban sponsors with a lightning-quick campaign, led by the smallest possible American force, acting to multiply the effectiveness of several indigenous Afghan armies.

It failed, ultimately, because of a failure of nerve, or of execution, or from naïveté—it’s hard to say what, exactly. All we know is that Osama bin Laden and his senior lieutenants fled into the caves of Tora Bora and, somehow, managed to get out.  [...]

What happened next was that the Bush Administration talked itself into believing that the democratization of Afghanistan was both necessary—practically and morally—and possible. Let’s take these in turn.


More: 
https://americanmind.org/salvo/afghanistan-doomed-from-the-start/

[Right_in_Virginia]

An excellent (and long) essay --- getting a lot of airtime today.  If you have the time, it's worth the read.

[Right_in_Virginia]

FTA:

Second was an alleged obligation arising from the use of force in self-defense or as just retaliation. One of the things the Bush Administration got right was its steadfast refusal to allow the multitude of international Lilliputians to tie down the American Gulliver in its moment of crisis. Sympathetic headlines such as Le Monde’s “Nous Sommes Tous Américains” aside, it quickly became clear that most of the rest of the world wanted some say, in many cases a veto, over any American response. The Bush Administration would have none of that.

But it didn’t dismiss such sentiment entirely. In part to soothe its own conscience, in part to mollify international opinion, the administration came to accept the notion that, for a military action in Afghanistan to be just, it must be followed by an intensive reconstruction effort. This was also thought, not incorrectly, to be necessary to satisfy certain elements of American public opinion. For every Jacksonian who thinks a few well-aimed strikes followed by a hasty bugout is the height of strategic prudence, there is a Wilsonian who thinks it’s America’s duty to “make the world safe for democracy.” In this light, bombing followed by reconstruction seems designed to appeal to both sides.

The Administration compounded, or justified, this error by talking itself into drawing the wrong lessons from World War II. Instead of seeing the outcome of that conflict for what it was—a unique, anomalous event in world history—they concluded that the rebuilding of Germany and Japan retroactively justified the prior destruction; that the only way to prevent future war was similarly to remake in our own image any country with which we came into conflict; and that such remaking would be possible anywhere, with anyone. In other words, they talked themselves into believing that the one-off events of 1945-1950 could and must be infinitely repeatable, everywhere. 

[dfwgator]

Read My Lips: No More NeoCons!

[Right_in_Virginia]

Modern Americans are endlessly told to “celebrate diversity” but are also hectored to treat other peoples as if they are interchangeable, all behave in the same ways and want the same things. This bedrock assumption of Wokemerica is the ultimate shoal on which the Afghan war foundered.

[skeeter]

I believe the stated goal of "democratizing" Afghanistan was secondary to providing work for the military industrial complex.

That is the only reason to have spent so long a time in one place with no measurable progress.

[Right_in_Virginia]

"The Romans,” Machiavelli says, “made their wars short and big.” We Americans have taken to making our wars small and long. We inflict pinprick strikes over decades rather than getting the whole thing over within a matter of days or weeks.

A better strategy, right after 9/11, would have been to do what we did, but finish the job at Tora Bora—and then leave immediately, with a note on the fridge saying “If you do anything like that again, we’ll be back quickly with overwhelming force, and we’ll leave just as quickly. We will do that as many times as you make us.”

[Bigun]

But it didn’t dismiss such sentiment entirely. In part to soothe its own conscience, in part to mollify international opinion, the administration came to accept the notion that, for a military action in Afghanistan to be just, it must be followed by an intensive reconstruction effort. This was also thought, not incorrectly, to be necessary to satisfy certain elements of American public opinion. For every Jacksonian who thinks a few well-aimed strikes followed by a hasty bugout is the height of strategic prudence, there is a Wilsonian who thinks it’s America’s duty to “make the world safe for democracy.” In this light, bombing followed by reconstruction seems designed to appeal to both sides.

And there it is!  The heart of the matter.

[Bigun]

I believe the stated goal of "democratizing" Afghanistan was secondary to providing work for the military industrial complex.

That is the only reason to have spent so long a time in one place with no measurable progress.

And don't forget about the need to provide cushy civilian jobs for retired military brass.  Their retirement checks alone are not sufficient to provide them the lifestyles to which they have become accustomed.

[DefiantMassRINO]

Afghanistan was not doomed from the start.  It was the victim of mission creep and too much deference to Pakistan.

A true war on terror would have included the Saudi royal family, United Arab Emirates royal family, and Pakistani intelligence on the list of evil doers.

Bush '43 campaigned that he would not engage in nation building.  He broke that promise, and many others.

Cheney, Wolfowitz, and Rumsfeld perverted 9/11 and the War on Terror to try to make Iraq, and hopefully the rest of Middle East, safe for democracy ... and for Haliburton and Blackwater Security.

One of the few credits I'll give Obama is that he had the stones to infiltrate Pakistan to kill bin Laden.

[Bigun]

Modern Americans are endlessly told to “celebrate diversity” but are also hectored to treat other peoples as if they are interchangeable, all behave in the same ways and want the same things. This bedrock assumption of Wokemerica is the ultimate shoal on which the Afghan war foundered.

To express any doubt that a fundamentally pre-modern people with entirely different experiences and expectations from a State Department bureaucrat or NGO do-gooder—especially to suggest that democracy might not be an easy sell in the Hindu Kush—was instantly to expose oneself to the charge of “racism” or “Islamophobia.” The few who dared quickly learned not to. The rest did not dare—or else were true believers from the get-go.

What first was deemed unsayable soon became unthinkable. Since it was “racist” to see Afghanistan as it actually is, it soon became obligatory to see it as the exact opposite. Once making policy based on reality becomes “racist,” the only option is to make policy based on unreality. The result? In this case, 20 years, two trillion dollars, 2,500 American deaths, and 20,000 more casualties. All for nothing.

So the Bush Administration did what it did, which didn’t work, and no one was able to admit that it didn’t work because saying the reason aloud was forbidden.

  Absolutely!

[dfwgator]

I believe the stated goal of "democratizing" Afghanistan was secondary to providing work for the military industrial complex.

That is the only reason to have spent so long a time in one place with no measurable progress.

And now the goal is to flood the US with as many Afghan refugees as possible.

[Bigun]

Thans for finding and posting this article @Right_in_Virginia it shells down the corn better than anything I've seen anywhere to date. And not just for this Afghanistan debacle either!

[Fishrrman]

RinVa posted a quote (which I assume is from the original article):
"Modern Americans are endlessly told to “celebrate diversity” but are also hectored to treat other peoples as if they are interchangeable,"

Thomas Jefferson;
Declaration of Independence;
"All men are created equal".

A high-sounding platitude springing from the noblesse oblige of The Enlightenment, with no sound basis in reality.

Because we continue to cling to this platitude and refuse to "let go", and admit that Jefferson was wrong ... we are doomed.

[LegalAmerican]

I believe the stated goal of "democratizing" Afghanistan was secondary to providing work for the military industrial complex.

That is the only reason to have spent so long a time in one place with no measurable progress.

PENTAGON.

[LegalAmerican]

And don't forget about the need to provide cushy civilian jobs for retired military brass.  Their retirement checks alone are not sufficient to provide them the lifestyles to which they have become accustomed.

 

[Right_in_Virginia]

Thans for finding and posting this article @Right_in_Virginia it shells down the corn better than anything I've seen anywhere to date. And not just for this Afghanistan debacle either!

Welcome, @Bigun  .... This is one of the few essays I've actually printed for ready reference.     

[Bigun]

Welcome, @Bigun  .... This is one of the few essays I've actually printed for ready reference.     

Here is another along the same line that you might want to keep handy.

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/assabiya-lee-smith

@Right_in_Virginia

[EdinVA]

When Bush went into Iraq, that sealed the fate.  All goals evaporated and it simply became a face saving exercise, just like Vietnam and it is ending the same way.

[Bigun]

Read this thread and get back to me @EdinVA

[Hoodat]

Afghanistan: Doomed from the Start
American Mind, Aug 18, 2021, Michael Anton

The mission that the United States—or, to be more precise, the George W. Bush Administration—set for itself in Afghanistan was doomed from the beginning.

Could not disagree more.  The mission was to prevent another 9/11 attack and deny international terrorists from using Kabul as a terror base.  It has a 20-year success history.  It is a mission worth the deployment of 3,000 troops for eternity.  Heck, we have more troops than that in Spain.

[dfwgator]

When Bush went into Iraq, that sealed the fate.  All goals evaporated and it simply became a face saving exercise, just like Vietnam and it is ending the same way.

Bush never wanted to get OBL, because that meant pulling out of Afghanistan,  and that would deny him the chance to Nation Build.

[Bigun]

Could not disagree more.  The mission was to prevent another 9/11 attack and deny international terrorists from using Kabul as a terror base.  It has a 20-year success history.  It is a mission worth the deployment of 3,000 troops for eternity.  Heck, we have more troops than that in Spain.

Did you even read this essay @Hoodat Wht you say is true but the "mission creep" doomed the whole thing.

[Hoodat]

Did you even read this essay @Hoodat Wht you say is true but the "mission creep" doomed the whole thing.

Yeah, I get scope creep.  But we had retreated back from that in the last few years.  The original mission was a success.  Can't vouch for what the politicians did though.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Here is another along the same line that you might want to keep handy.

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/assabiya-lee-smith

@Right_in_Virginia

Excellent @Bigun   Thanks for the must read (twice) essay!