What must be done in Afghanistan (I): Obama's task

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Tuesday, October 13, 2009 - 3:27 PM Share

Here's a guest comment from a long note I got from a smart Army officer who has served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Neglect his advice at your own peril, mateys.

The President has to assume Commander-in-Chief role, sell the public on his new strategy, and own it. If not, this conflict will be a background effort and Taliban will win. Do not underestimate the Taliban. They want to govern and once they get the South, the other elements in the East and North will follow suit. And they can fight."

EXPLORE:AFGHANISTAN, NUKES

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RUBBER DUCKY

4:26 PM ET

October 13, 2009

The sunk-cost fallacy

Wow! Bad guys in the world! We must mount up and strike them down, for we are the global avengers!

Who gives a tinker's dam whether and where the Taliban controls Afghanistan. We have lived our entire national life with patches of the planet in the hands of folks we don't like, trust, or care to deal with. Stay the course? A textbook example of the 'sunk-cost fallacy.'

RPM

5:47 PM ET

October 13, 2009

Wow...

Did you miss the past eight years (or, more accurately the history of Afghanistan since 1979)?

We left once and it turned bad, real bad. This point of view seems to think that events in Afghanistan do not directly effect the entire region - and in particular the stability of Pakistan. Look how hard the Taliban is fighting to destabilize Pakistan without the control of Afghanistan. If they control that country it would merely be a matter of time before Pakistan finds itself in a war far more brutal than the one they are fighting now. A war they probably cannot win without tearing their country apart at the seams.

And no, this is not the rehash of some long-discounted domino theory. These are real events happening in real time, not something that might happen in the future.

The officer is on the nose. The president must own this policy and strongly argue in its favor for it to have any chance. My biggest fear is that political calculation will result in half-measures that are half-supported, with the caveat that this was the "group's" decision.

Obama's supporters have long wanted to compare him to Lincoln, FDR, TR, etc. Its time to see if any of that was true. Great presidents have never shied from tough decisions - or not hesitated to go against their advisors counsel when they alone saw the writing on the wall. Think Lincoln firing McClellan - no long belabored meetings. Think TR and the Panama Canal - he saw the big picture and shoved Colombia out of the way. Think FDR and Lend Lease - as unpopular a move possible at that time.

Great presidents think big and act decisively. We know this president can think big - that was the underlying argument for the Nobel. Now it is time to be bold and decisive.

RUBBER DUCKY

6:32 PM ET

October 13, 2009

What's your choice for the next senseless war?

Afghanistan! And what obscure, remote, distant, disconnected, meaningless nation is next?

CMEYERGO

6:20 PM ET

October 13, 2009

Taliban are not a threat

For those who never read, the Taliban have never conducted terror attacks against the USA. None were part of 9-11, nor any Afghans. The attack was planned in the Philippines and Germany, with pilots trained in Germany in the USA, and executed by Saudis and some from the UAE.

Yes, Osama liked to hang out in Afghanistan, but also spent much time in Pakistan, Yemen, Sudan and other nations. He is probably dead anyway.

Back in the USA, the nation is going bankrupt, tens of thousands die each year from poor health care, yet we have some well paid military officers who think the nation's future depends on the outcome of a long standing civil conflict in one of the poorest nation's on Earth.

PIBE04

8:11 PM ET

October 13, 2009

own it

Own it is a great phrase and what is needed.

NORWEGIAN SHOOTER

8:55 PM ET

October 13, 2009

It is - but what is it that will be owned?

I totally agree that "own it and sell it" is the President's responsibility. However, I'm sure this officer wants him to own and sell sending 40,000 more Americans to Afghanistan, while I want him to own and sell a sustainable policy, say a maximum of 20,000 Americans in country. So while it's necessary, it isn't sufficient.

I'm with Rubber Ducky and cmeyergo.

MDREW

9:21 PM ET

October 13, 2009

Which "new strategy"?

The one tentatively embraced in March, or the one he'll be outlining in a few weeks? It makes a difference in what you're advocating by saying he must sell the strategy. Perhaps it's in the rest of the note...