n 2001, most Afghans welcomed the U.S. troops. Inattention, ineptitude, and a lack of resources squandered this goodwill. Unsurprisingly, the dramatic escalation of the U.S. commitment to Afghanistan has triggered a vigorous debate about whether it will prove to be "Obama's Vietnam?”
Has the President over extended himself on a foreign policy of Nation building in Afhhanistan? The transition from Iraq to Afghanistan is well under way. Total annual spending in Afghanistan will soon exceed that in Iraq -- $65 billion versus $61 billion in the fiscal year 2010 budget request. This would be an increase of nearly 40 percent for Operation Enduring Freedom, adding nearly $7.5 billion for the Afghanistan security forces and $700 million for the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund. The administration's strategy will also necessitate far greater civilian involvement in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, a fact reflected in the $4.1 billion international affairs portion of the request, which covers the cost of diplomats and technical experts as well as economic assistance to both countries (including a down payment on a five-year $7.5 billion package for Pakistan). President Bush did committe to rebuilding Afganstain as a strategic interest development.President Barack Obama dismissed that objective as unrealistic, indicating that the United States was not going to "rebuild Afghanistan into a Jeffersonian democracy." However,with the addittion of NATO troops, including those slated for deployment through the August Afghan elections, would boost the total coalition troop level to approximately 100,000.
This begs to question what is the policy there, what can be expected? What can go wrong when outsiders venture onto the Afghan landscape. Those ventures have generally not turned out well. Alexander the Great met his match there; the British were massacred; the Soviets, humiliated. Can this war really be won or are we at a staging development we have no chocie that we must continue to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qaeda and its safe havens in Pakistan? The premise of the strategy is that the turbulence in Afghanistan and Pakistan, if untamed, will lead to a nuclear 9/11. Will wining this war mean flipping the taliban to tip the balance of power?
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