The Time Is Now To Get Afghanistan Right

Two days ago a group of progressive bloggers got together to expound on one single message, to get Afghanistan right. The new Administration will take power in less than one week and we still do not have a good way of dealing with that country. Obama's ideas of escalation simply won't work. I trust that he means well, but looking at the history of Afghanistan and our current role in the world and that at home, it is time to be smart about what we are going to do in the coming years.

From Get Afghanistan Right:

Opinion Leaders Launch Week of Blogging, Jan. 12-18, Opposing Military Escalation

Washington, D.C.--A group of bloggers, writers and activists today launched "Get Afghanistan Right Week," the start of an ongoing campaign to oppose military escalation in Afghanistan. From January 12-18, they will post stories and relevant materials to publicize growing opposition to the idea that more troops will bring stability to Afghanistan or secure the United States. Participants argue that Afghanistan has become an un-winnable, deepening quagmire, and that escalation will drain resources needed for recovery efforts at home. The group will post their work on various high-traffic websites and aggregate their work on a new website, GetAfghanistanRight.com.

Participants include:
Brave New Films' Robert Greenwald
Katrina vanden Heuvel of The Nation
Alex Thurston and Jason Rosenbaum of The Seminal
Howie Klein of DownWithTyranny!

"With the economy continuing a severe decline and the international scene in turmoil, we absolutely cannot afford a hugely expensive troop increase in Afghanistan. The country desperately needs many of the reforms and programs proposed by the incoming Obama administration. But, an escalation in Afghanistan will cripple our ability to mitigate the effects of the recession while making that country less stable. The success of the President-elect's broader agenda depends on his ability to get us out of President Bush's wars," Robert Greenwald said.

Debate about the future of U.S. policy in Afghanistan intensified in recent weeks as the economic recession deepened and questions arose regarding several key aspects of the Afghanistan crisis:

• The New York Times' Thom Shanker and Christopher Drew revealed that an escalation in Afghanistan would be enormously expensive. "It is significantly more expensive to sustain each soldier in Afghanistan than in Iraq because of Afghanistan's landlocked location and primitive road network."
  
• The Times' Dexter Filkins reported that "the government of Afghanistan is shot through with corruption and graft. ...[T]he state built on the ruins of the Taliban government seven years ago now often seems to exist for little more than the enrichment of those who run it." Rampant corruption in Afghanistan's political apparatus could doom the counterinsurgency strategy that provides the impetus for a surge. According to The U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, when countering an insurgency, "legitimacy of the host nation government is a north star".
  
• Escalation proponents often cite the cause of Afghan women as a reason to put more troops in their country, but the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) recently denounced the Karzai regime and U.S. policy: "...[T]he country has been turned to a mafia state and self-immolation, rape and abduction of women and children has no parallel in the history of Afghanistan....RAWA strongly believes that there should be no expectation of either the U.S. or any other country to present us with democracy, peace and prosperity."
  

"An escalation would drain resources that are vital to President-elect Obama's goals for an economic recovery, health care, and social justice at home, while impeding other critical international initiatives such as the Middle East Peace process and a regional diplomacy in South Asia. On national security grounds, a U.S. occupation would be counterproductive to the stated goal of defeating Al Qaeda. This week, I and others will blog on this issue to raise awareness about the need to oppose an escalation and to get Afghanistan right," Katrina vanden Heuvel said.

Concerned citizens, members of the press and writers seeking to join the week of blogging can learn more at GetAfghanistanRight.com.

What are you waiting for? Sign up now and be a part of the solution.