It Is Al Qaeda, Not Afghanistan That Should Concern Us.

Over the next few days, President Obama will make a decision about the role he wants America to play in Afghanistan.  He must decide whether or not to follow the recommendation of General McCrystal (the army chief in Afghanistan) to increase the troop strength in that beleaguered nation.   The President has said that he does not want to get the resource question ahead of the strategy, so he want to take some time with advisors to discuss the strategy before making a decision on whether or not to send more troops. 

First, let’s note that President Obama inherited the situation from President Bush.  Under the Bush administration, the war in Afghanistan was neglected in order to fight a useless war with a nation that never was a threat to America.  Had we stayed with Afghanistan and not switched our primary efforts to Iraq, I believe that war would be over now and American would be safer.  Now, however, it is up to Obama to fix the problem. 

We should understand that the real threat to America comes from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.  That is where Al Qaeda operates (more now in Pakistan than in Afghanistan).  In my view, that is where our resources should be concentrated.  Al Qaeda was the real reason we went into Afghanistan in the first place, and Al Qaeda is the primary terrorist threat to America, and to the world.   President Obama has said on several occasions that we are in Afghanistan to confront a common enemy.  He was referring to Al Qaeda, not strictly the Taliban.  It is against that vile organization (Al Qaeda) that we should focus our effort and resources. 

Some conservative legislators argue that we should run up our troop strength another 40,000 and wage a war to protect the Karzai government and defeat the Taliban.  We have no obligation to do that.  We should not be in the business of telling Afghan people what government they should have.  That question is up to them.  I believe, however, we do have an obligation to give them a choice.  We should increase our efforts to train and equip the Afghan army and police.  To do that may require a small increase in troop strength for a short time.  When that is done we should get out of Afghanistan, while still monitoring the operation of Al Qaeda.

[This is an aside, but we should note it.  Congressional conservatives who have insisted that every aspect of the health-care policy be scored by the Congressional Budget Office, have not even asked for a score on the McCrystal plan.]   

In addition, we must increase our aid to Pakistan.  Recently, Pakistan has taken on Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in the tribal areas of Pakistan.  The Pakistanis say they want to continue and expand those operations, it is in our interests to help them do so.  If we are in this war to protect America from terrorism, then we must do what we need to do to clip Al Qaeda’s wings.   This can be done, by helping Pakistan and by satellite from outside Afghanistan.

Obama should take the time necessary and resist any criticism of his search for the best strategy. The last thing he should do is rush into a new set of obligations in Afghanistan that would define his presidency more than any victory he wins on health care.   As he ponders his options, it is not the voices of his critics he should worry about, rather, it is Al Qaeda!