NATO Can’t Find 2,500 More Troops for Afghanistan

On Wednesday, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization acknowledged that its members hadn’t pledged the 2,500 troops for Afghanistan that it had requested. After this rather shabby announcement, Poland (which used to be part of the Warsaw Pact, which opposed NATO in the Cold War) said it would send 1,000. Poland’s gesture is far from empty, but it does little to allay the fears that the Forgotten Front in Afghanistan remains forgotten. What little the world remembers comes in the form of body counts, which are hardly the best way to measure success.

The history of Afghanistan, from Alexander of Macedon onwards, is the history of generals from other places being unable to hold what they conquer in that mountainous land. In its past, it has not been a failed state as much as soil from which a state cannot grow. The White House and its allies did entirely the right thing in going after Al Qaeda and, when the Taliban government refused to cooperate in rooting the terrorist group out, the Taliban as well.

But trying to create a bourgeois liberal state that would be recognizable in Europe or North America is a bridge too far. Toppling the Taliban and capturing Usama bin Laden would have been enough, followed by a withdrawal and letting Afghans be about their business. A terror network could arise again, but the precedent set would ensure few Afghans would let it. Instead, the Busheviks decided they needed absolute security, so total control of Afghanistan became the objective, an historically insurmountable obstacle.

NATO’s democratic governments, however, are loath to reinforce failure here, as evidenced by their unwillingness to send more soldiers. “Failure is not an option” is a silly mantra for over-hyped neocons. With the Bush administration, “failure isn’t an option, it comes as factory installed standard equipment.” Afghanistan could have been a success if the goals had been achievable, but they quickly changed into the sort of nation-building exercise that Mr. Bush mocked in the 2000 election. He has since proved that he, at least, can’t effectively build a nation – or even restore a single city at the Mississippi’s mouth.

Oddly, if the 2,500 troops are genuinely the difference between success and failure (which one doubts), they are already in the region along with their equipment. The US currently has 140,000 troops in Iraq, and success there is imminent if the White House is to be believed (it isn’t). Surely a 3,300-man brigade can be moved quickly to the east. And if the Poles are as good as their word (no reason to doubt it), half that brigade can stay in Baghdad. No further proof is needed that the Mess-opotamian adventure diverted needed troops and resources from Afghanistan, a fight for which the White House has no more stomach than its allies do.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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