Obama And Afghanistan

When Senator Obama visited Iraq and was pleasantly surprised that the Government of Iraq was of the same mindset as to the withdrawal of U.S. Troops. Senator Obama has consistently expressed his dismay at the the invasion of Iraq and the continued occupation of Iraq just as a majority of the American People are dissatisfied by this incursion into a Sovereign Nation that posed no threat to the United States.

When describing his plans for a 16 month withdrawal from Iraq, Senator Obama expressed his desire to move troops from Iraq to Afghanistan. I would implore Senator Obama to rethink this position. The United States can not gain anything from the continued occupation of Afghanistan. Afghanistan is very similar to Iraq in terms of a very mixed population with loyalties to their own tribal culture. Although the various Peoples that inhabit the Country of Afghanistan fight amongst themselves, they do agree on one thing. They do not like foreign occupiers. The Soviet Union spent an enormous amount of Money and Lives trying to control Afghanistan, the Soviet Union lost over 15,000 people during their occupation, and had 53,000 wounded. What did the Soviet Union accomplish with their occupation? Nothing.

What is the ultimate goal of a United States occupation of Afghanistan and what will be accomplished? Although our involvement in Afghanistan is more of an International effort than the invasion and occupation of Iraq was, it is still basically an American occupation. Senator Obama should decide exactly what we can accomplish before committing more American Blood to this occupation. A more sensible plan for Afghanistan is to let the International Community take the lead role and let the United States support the decision with a proportional military force. The United States should not commit more American lives to a useless situation. Military force is not going to transform this Country in any way. There will be constant attacks from the indigenous people that will continue as long as American targets are readily available.

An International Force spearheaded by the armies of the Arab Nations with support service from the United States is a more practical approach to the Afghanistan Situation and hopefully Senator Obama will consider all of the detriments and consider what the rewards would be for a continued U.S. commitment to this Country. The United States force should be no more than a small percentage of the entire International Force that is committed.