Call To Account
At the end of 2010, U.S. policymakers will make some big decisions about Afghanistan ... tell them what you think. Easy way to reach them is http://www.congress.org/
In an op-ed today entitled “The $110 B Question”, Thomas Friedman wonders why we support the rise of modern, liberalizing political movements by the people in places like Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, while at the same time U.S. policy makers and the U.S. president prop up the very same types of regimes that those people oppose in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The link to the story is here.
A couple of key points …
He writes, “The truth is we can’t do much to consolidate the democracy movements in Egypt and Tunisia. They’ll have to make it work themselves.” Message: people must be and will be accountable for themselves, and it’s important not to get in the way of that.
We are making the problem worse. We are impeding ultimate progress – freedom, democratization, economic development – in Afghanistan He writes, “Transparency International rated the regime of President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan as the second most corrupt in the world after Somalia’s. That is the Afghan regime we will spend more than $110 billion in 2011 to support.”
He concludes, “I know we can’t just walk out of Afghanistan and Pakistan; there are good people, too, in both places. But our involvement in these two countries — 150,000 troops to confront Al Qaeda — is totally out of proportion today with our interests and out of all sync with our values.”
Not knowing exactly how to get out is a poor excuse for not trying to do so. We need to apply our ideas, innovation, and common sense to develop and execute policies that make the Afghans, the U.S., and others accountable for the mess. Turning a blind eye … that’s what Taliban leader Mullah Omar does.
Repetition is the mother of learning … maybe
Repetition is the mother of learning, repetition is … you get it.
I used to write more frequently, mostly to vent, and if readers joined in, great. I have no fan following but I know there are a lot of people who think like I do about this. Witness Tom Sowers, running for U.S. Congress in MO, whose platform is based largely on his (very informed) belief that our Afghan policy is crazy. He was a special ops guy who spent time on the ground there. Without referencing a lot of other folks but to keep putting it out there …
- our national security does not depend on our occupying presence in Afghanistan
- there are no credible / durable threats there who can project power into U.S. – they can shoot at and kill soldiers in Afghanistan, and they do
- the reasons why we’re there do not hold water (see past posts for “5 reasons”), and the powers that keep us there serve their own narrow interests more than that of general, taxpaying U.S. public
- Karzai is a non-starter, and we are getting played … people smarter than me know this and take that risk due to what they perceive to be other POTENTIAL benefits or because he is “the best they have to offer”
- we are wasting lives and money by continuing OEF and once the U.S. president has ‘tried out the surge” ( a somewhat silly thought given that surged forces really have very little time to make an impact) he will hopefully do the right thing and draw down and get out
- this is not a ‘left’ vs. ‘right’ issue and as soon as some conservative political leaders get on board with getting out, then others will feel it’s safe to join in. Nobody wants to look soft on terror.
- I wish leaders and policy makers demonstrated more common sense and spine when it comes to OEF; while they are waffling and “giving it time” (10+ years), we continue to play our role in Insanistan
I say again, “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.” (thanks Albert)
The Draft is a leveler, it makes you think. This is something that the majority of us are not forced to do when it comes to our nation’s wars, which for the last 25 years have taken on the feel of old Rome. There’s plenty of material out there on that … “Are We Rome?”, and imperial powers die hard.
If you want to talk about a ‘surge’ that really matters (and that is working), look at the Chinese and what they are doing in areas like manufacturing and energy as they try to pull their population into middle class stability. Note, this is easier to do in many ways when you have an authoritarian government and can make and then execute policy without all those pesky nay sayer’s getting in your way.
But back to our draft. If you ask a person in the military if they want a draft …like U.S. presidents ask their military leaders, the answer is ‘no, not on your life’ because field commanders would rather have a bunch of volunteers than a conscript army any day. It makes for better morale, better discipline, and better war making capability. Got it. Militaries exist to fight wars so this logic train makes sense.
However, when you think about accountability in a democracy, it stands to reason and in fact may be a foundational principle of government for, by and of the people that more burden should be shared my more people. I do not intend this as a self-righteous, woe is me point. As my friends in the Marine Corps say USMC stands for “u signed the motherf!$king contract.”
What I am saying is that I think our policymakers’ unwillingness to seek a draft because (a) the military does not want it (see previous post “There’s the military and there’s policy makers…); and (b) it would be unpopular, demonstrates a lack of leadership and accountability. And it cannot all be laid on them as politicians make easy targets for blame. “We the people” are to blame as well.
A defense rep for one Senator recently told me, “A draft will never occur unless we are attacked by a significant force within the continental U.S. That’s just reality.” And by the way, this may be a good standard for going to war in the first place. I replied back that insofar as something is “just a reality”, there are lots of things that fit that description — like crime – which does not mean we do not try to address it.
Just going about getting ready to possibly have a draft would raise awareness and cause people to actively care a lot more than they do today … this would have the effect of illuminating the pro’s and con’s of our Afghan effort, which I believe will result in a demand to withdraw. That day is coming anyway. It’s just a matter of whether we crash land or maintain a controlled descent.
Then again, maybe we should ask the Chinese about how they handle their draft? Article 55 of the China’s constitution says: “It is an honoured obligation of the citizens of the People’s Republic of China to perform military service and to join the militia forces.
Dialing 911 on Afghanistan
I just watched a movie, “9/11: The Press for Truth” … it was about accountability … who knew what, how and when the attacks might occur. On one level, I share some of their doubts, and then I also have no doubt that many good people tried hard before, during and after 9-11 to do their jobs, their duty, their conscience.
The film did question why government leaders did not do a better job of answering important questions before, and mostly after, the attacks. Even government leaders were calling out other government leaders. They asked why decision makers along the way and people with authority consistently failed to do one thing or another.
What happened on 9-11 was tragic, but right now, at this very moment, the U.S. government needs to be held accountable in another tragic waste of life and resources, one that we can actually control. Ask yourself some questions, starting with why … really, why … are we in Afghanistan? It does not make sense for U.S. citizenry at home nor for our geo-political positioning and power abroad.
Since 9-11 was very personal, let’s just focus on the issues at home for the moment. What does the U.S. government hope to accomplish in Afghanistan that will actually help the citizens of the United States … will it protect us more? make us safer? Will it provide us more freedom, more happiness ? Will it help us earn more money or provide a better life for ourselves and our families? Is it some sort of moral imperative (like WWII)?
Over the next few weeks I will write about conversations with some of those people in power (or the people who represent them) to show you what they say. I have not found an answer yet that is compelling or logical … for the “5 reasons why we say we are there…” check out the other posts on this blog.
Look around, other viewpoints are out there. Check out the Home Fires blog on the NY Times from people who are THERE. Check out sites like Rethink Afghanistan or “Plan B” from the Afghanistan Study Group. I have not seen “all the answers” in one place, but what we are doing now is not working.
And when you’re done reading … tell your member of Congress, Senator and President what you think they should do about Afghanistan. This a way to commemorate 9-11, and be part of a more responsible effort to stop pursuing policies that do not work.
Something I would volunteer for …
Standing by for orders to do the right thing
I was born in Tennessee – The Volunteer State. I joined the National Guard, which is pretty much as “volunteer” as the military gets. People used to think of the Guard differently than the regular military, though much less since the long war(s). It’s hard to find a Guardsman, or woman, without a right-arm patch on their uniform, which shows they have been deployed (the army is big into putting as much of your military resume on your uniform as possible).
Entire movements and websites have sprung up about overtaxing our volunteer army and whether the nation is accountable for the expense of blood and treasure. Organizations like http://www.bringtheguardhome.org/ show how upset people are about the fact that so few represent so many in a conflict that many of our citizens do not understand or care about any longer. They have just gotten used to it, or see it as a something necessary to fight the war on terror.
I am part of that group that scratches its head and wonders ‘why?’ Yet amidst all that and everything in this blog – and not to contradict myself here – I would like to volunteer for another mission in Afghanistan. ”Dear Mr. President, sir … please send me to the accountability brigade for immediate deployment.” Dozen of both historical and recent news articles show just how badly we need such an effort. And the voices are not partisan, but come from the right and left. Google two words “corruption” and “Afghanistan” and you will get page after page of facts and points of view.
One U.S. legislator quoted in a July 28 Wall Street Journal article stated “I do not intend to appropriate one more dime for assistance to Afghanistan until I have confidence that U.S. taxpayer money is not being abused to line the pockets of corrupt Afghan government officials, drug lords, and terrorists.” I am unclear why this has not been the standard all along, or why, more importantly, we have not put the burden of such accountability on the Afghan government.
Recent ‘revelations’ (such revelations have been evident for some time) show just how deep the problem goes on the Afghan side. An article in the New York Times just last week reported that Karzai fired one of his lead anti-corruption prosecutors for … doing his job, apparently. The article stated that, “An American official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that Afghan prosecutors had prepared several cases against officials suspected of corruption, but that Mr. Karzai was ‘stalling and stalling and stalling’.” The klan that runs Afghanistan is playing this for all it’s worth, and we are paying for it.
Policymakers and pundits are aware of this … people from the ‘left’ like Vice President Joe Biden and Senator John Kerry, people from the ‘right’ like George Will who last fall wrote a controversial column calling for the United States to get out of Afghanistan.
What’s stopping us from taking talk on accountability and putting it into action. Sign me up, standing by for orders, sir.
I saw GEN Petraeus speak recently to a group of business leaders. It was impressive. He has an aura that can inspire and influence. He is using it right now to drive policy on Afghanistan.
We should expect military leaders to ask for more resources. As a person on the ground, I have done so myself … ‘more helicopters, please, Mr. President’. While this is tactically sound, it misses the larger challenge, which is not primarily a military one.
Military leaders should inform and influence policy, but U.S. policy makers should make it, and be held accountable for it. It is also not the military’s place to decide what resources our nation shall use and for how long.
Political leaders – the Senate Armed Services Committee, for example - seem to be on the wrong side of that fine line between listening to advice from military leaders and subordinating their views to guys with brass on their shoulders.
Maybe it’s past guilt. For example, one Senator I met (his defense rep, actually) got several draft deferments and avoided service in Vietnam. I don’t judge him for that, but I think he does.
Or maybe it’s the fear of looking soft on terror.
Or maybe it’s just ignorance and busy-ness that leads to a willingness to defer (overly) to people in uniform.
I have high regard for everyone in the armed forces, and such people serve a special role in our society that goes largely unnoticed save for yellow-ribbon bumper stickers and airport applause.
And I pay special attention when I look at and listen to political leaders who have served in the military, from George Washington to Dwight Eisenhower. I remember how they have warned us about giving too much control to military leaders. They knew better.
Container o' dreams
We’ve heard stories before about government waste … it gets found out … it gets corrected (some times? usually?). People try their best in many cases. In my case, I lived on a small forward operating base or “FOB”, where a succession of supply officers and NCO’s had inquired about why we rented a “conex” (see photo) from an American contractor for $7,000 per month. A quick Web search will tell you that you can buy one outright, used, for about $2,000 – $3,000.
My FOB was one of the oldest in Afghanistan, where the first American was killed at the start of the war. So that’s $7,000 X 12 months X 9 years for a total of $756,000.
A good example of insanity … I can’t explain why it happened or why it wasn’t fixed, and I am not even calling out the people on the ground for it (though they should be accountable too). Really it reflects the whole mindset of overkill and under-accountability. Do some searching of the web and you’ll see container loads of U.S. aid being sold in Afghan and Pakistani black markets … not its intended purpose. More ‘mis-use of funds’ and generally getting fleeced stories to follow …
