Afghanistan occupation: Take a pro or con position on whether the US should pull out of Afghanistan as it is today.
Thesis statement
Public opinion in the United States of America is for the government to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan. I will not support the pulling out of the troops out of Afghanistan.
Introduction
There was information from the White House regarding a statement on the status of the available negotiations between Afghanistan and the United States of America with the main intention of keeping the troops in Afghanistan after the year 2014. The White House and the Pentagon have been advocating for a gentle and orderly withdrawal before the end of the year, this was in the case America kept its troops in Afghan. There is an impending pressure on the Government to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) intended at maintaining and authorizing American troops to continue staying in Afghanistan. There have been arguments for many years that the inability to leave troops could spell a disastrous error. The general assessment of the situation is an indication leaving the American troops will be worse than total withdrawal.
The decision regarding the withdrawal of the United States Military from Afghanistan has been a hot button one. According to Gannon (2011), there are some arguments that the decision should wait until after the Afghan elections, Obama but the president of the United States of America has announced that the troops have to be withdrawn because the military engagement contract with the government of Afghanistan has expired. There are very many American soldiers who have lost their lives in Afghanistan and this has driven opinion leaders, politician and Australians to dislike the stay of the troops in Afghanistan. The numbers, death regularity has resulted in the question and debate regarding the future of American troops in Afghanistan (Gannon 266).
The Afghan war and terrorism
It is evident that Afghanistan is a war sanctuary and the United States fighting in Afghanistan is a necessary war. Afghanistan has been considered as a haven of Al-Qaida and if United States of America was to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, there is likelihood that Al-Qaeda would reestablish itself and then it would be an imminent threat to the United States of America, its allies and interests. This implies that withdrawal of American troops would be considered as dangerous and the prosecution of the war would therefore be necessary. The situation in Afghanistan is considered as very desperate and the troops operating under the banner fighting Al-Qaeda and to deny them sanctuary. This will help in denying the foreign jihadists and their dwellings.
Stabilizing Afghanistan
The debate as to whether or not the United States of America should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan should be analyzed along the line of the Iraq war. This is because a proposed afghan strategy will involve taking lessons from Iraq. This was because the United States of America was motivated by three main options namely: The removal of Saddam Hussein from power second was to combat the civil war between the Sunni Insurgency and the general Shiite population and to destroy that insurgency basically through the use of military and scrapping the national unity. There was also the political base that involved enticing the Sunni leaders into joining government and to desert the jihadist movements. The military options in Iraq were founded on advocating for the political process. This has been the same with Afghanistan and the scenario was the same as Iraq. The American forces are therefore stationed in the Afghanistan to stabilize the country; the continued presence of American troops was help to back up peace and stability in the country (Gleis 178).
Afghanistan as America ally
Gleis (2011) argues that the United States of America understands its effect and influence in Afghanistan; there are the general principles that the United States of America will not abandon its allies and hence it will not pull out of that country. This is because the security of the United States of America and its allies because their security is at the heart of American strategy and their withdrawal could jeopardize peace process and undermined the American strategy in Afghanistan. The strategy of the United States of America is founded on the principle that America and its allies in NATO are well able to protect the interests of United States of America. Instead of pulling out, America should try their best to protect the general security of your people. The American strategy should involve deploying more troops to guarantee the security of the Afghan population (Gleis 179).
The United States of America should assume a defensive posture when taking of the afghan interests. America is an interested party in afghan and the security of Afghan is fundamental to the interests of America. American forces have to demonstrate that it is not interested in the security of the local population but instead interested in forging alliances with the local people. American forces should therefore stay in Afghanistan to protect her interests and that of its allies.
Fighting and expelling terrorism
There is a strong counter-terrorism insurgency in Afghanistan and the American forces should fight this. In Afghanistan, the terrorism has a heavy presence that can only be pursued through drone strikes and traditional counter-terrorism tactics. The United States of America should use its military prowess to injure and overpower Al-Qaeda. This will help in driving the American power and political elements through the war. Presence of the American military will assist enhance political reconciliation and instill American ideology among them. Regular forces in Afghanistan have refused the use of conventional engagements and American forces will bridge the gap between regular forces and conventional insurgencies. They can be in position to mount a very strict offensive. This has the implication that the occupation, security and the defending of the Afghan forces will make the inhabitants consider the troops as magnets for the conflict (Tomsen 201).
Local Afghanistan people have experienced conflict at multilevel experience since the time when the coalition forces moved into the region. The presence of the troops has served to inform the locals that the presence of the American troops will help them to secure the conflict laden areas. The western troops help in boosting security and its main aim is to defeat the Taliban defenders. This is the position when the presence of American troops helps in maintaining and restoring peace and order. Furthermore, it is evident that American forces in Afghan can facilitate the sustenance of the infantry that the troops are well trained to handle the terrorism and other insurgencies. The circumscribed region should be ceded to in order to minimize civilian casualties. There is needed to make some choice in life and trying to overcome it any combined or joint military operations.
Training afghan military and impart tactics on them
It should be made clear that the main intention of American troops is not to occupy the region of Afghanistan but to impose a brand new reality military force. This was not, however, possible since the troops available are very less and could only help serve as reinforcements during the time of Taliban attacks.
In Afghanistan, it is too early to talk of successful military structure; this is because of the presence of inter-communal conflict, particularly during this time elections are around the corner. America troops remain in Afghanistan to maintain political as well as security arrangements entered to during the year 2007-2008. It is, however, far from over as to what is going to happen in the event troops are left. Instability is considered as a cross border idea that is beyond scope, this is still the matter is to be questioned (O’Hanlon and Hassina 63).
International obligation
With the American troops in Afghanistan, United States is in the wrong side of history. This is because America is not free to operate. Its main interest is the defeat of jihadists and al-Qaeda forces and to prevent its resurgence. This is considered as an international obligation and mandate that America is trying to fulfill (Walton 107). There are several political agreements between the two political regions. There are several factional conflicts that remain as the adversary. Rubin (2013) argues that Taliban and A-Qaeda are the main factional advertises. There are is a high chance that under a very strong pressure and the factional wars might recur. Because the country has been split along factional lines, the presence of the military can further split the country decisively (Rubin 253).
Maintaining credibility
There are also the persuasive arguments that the presence of American troops should be discouraged. According to Meher (2004), United States of American neither has enough forces or much interest for the purpose of long term engagements in such countries as Afghanistan. With the threat to homeland security in American, there is need for United States of America to withdraw its troops for the purpose of maintaining security, especially with the advent of increased terrorist attacks (Meher 202).
Part of national security interests and strategy
The reduction of the national security strategy; and its connections to the Islamic world in general and Afghanistan in particular has been considered to be a threat. A balance should therefore be established and president Obama should be in position to manage the heavy pressures and find consensus about the topic. The opinion of the president Obama represents impersonal forces that batter him. The president should be in position to answer several questions and challenges that arise from the decision to withdraw the troop. The president should be able to define the future of the Afghanistan and its significance to the United States of America and its interests. According to Fry, (2010), it is not only the releasing the fact that the availability of military should make Al-Qaeda to wobble. This is a wrong idea since the Afghan or United States foreign policy and their interests are not only to fight terrorists but to protect the locals. The involvement of the United States of America in Afghanistan has helped shape the Islamic world due to the perception that the power at the disposal of United States and this should be taken in line with other interests (Fry 84).
The interests of United States extent beyond the far flung American world and hence there are several potential threats from outside that Middle East region that need military troops. The over commitments in only once center of interest at the detriment of the other interests could be very disastrous when compared with the disadvantages of withdrawal. American government should be in position to manage the strategies and the consequences arising from the deployment of military in Afghanistan. The president of the United States of America has, over long time contemplated removing the troops from Afghanistan. This will have far reaching ramifications on the relationship between the two countries (Anon 6).
Despite the fact that I strongly do not support the withdrawal, there are few exceptions that warrant considerations to withdraw the troops; these are:
Killings and injuries to the military
I am very much of the idea that American troops should be withdrawn. From the perspective of Meyerle, Katt and Jim (2012), most of American troops have continued being killed and wounded. Despite of their advantage of training Afghan troops and providing them with tactical lessons, innocent lives have been lost. There has been some arguments that the withdrawal of the troops will amount to sacrificing the gains that had been won hard but leaving thousands death because of unjustified military experiments and unnecessary wars. There is need to ponder deeply as to whether there is a strategic plan. The available troops, however few, are able to finish the available tasks with a high chance of success. American blood, prestige, and treasure should only be carried out when there is a necessity and when the mission meets the required standards (Meyerle, Katt, and Jim 91).
Economic impact
There is also the issue of the economy. There is very much money that have been spend on the war. This has negatively affected the American economy and the money used for the military expedition can be used to service important sectors of economy. There is also an increasing unemployment caused by the veterans of the war. This will only be solved if the troops are withdrawn. American debt has also risen because of the deployment of the troops and the government should instead service this debt by stopping the money spent on the Afghanistan war (Rothstein and John 91).
Conclusion
The American presence in Afghanistan was motivated by the September 11 terrors attack. This was aimed at weeding out Al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgence. This makes the war relevant and calls for the continuous stay of the American troops to ensure that the country is safe from terrorists. The troops should not, therefore be withdrawn.
Works Cited
Anon. September 11, 2011 Seven-Minute War in Afghanistan. West Bow Pr, 2012. Print.
Fry, Earl H. Lament for America: Decline of the Superpower, Plan for Renewal. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010. Print.
Gannon, James. Obama's War: Avoiding a Quagmire in Afghanistan. Washington, D.C: Potomac Books, Inc, 2011. Internet resource.
Gleis, Joshua L. Withdrawing Under Fire: Lessons Learned from Islamist Insurgencies. Washington, D.C: Potomac Books, 2011. Internet resource.
Meher, Jagmohan. America's Afghanistan War: The Success That Failed. Delhi: Kalpaz Publ, 2004. Print.
Meyerle, Gerald, Megan Katt, and Jim Gavrilis. On the Ground in Afghanistan: Counterinsurgency in Practice. Quantico, VA: Marine Corps University Press, 2012. Print.
O'Hanlon, Michael E, and Hassina Sherjan. Toughing It Out in Afghanistan. Washington, D.C: Brookings Institution Press, 2010. Internet resource.
Rothstein, Hy S, and John Arquilla. Afghan Endgames: Strategy and Policy Choices for America's Longest War. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2012. Internet resource.
Rubin, Barnett R. Afghanistan from the Cold War Through the War on Terror. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Print.
Tomsen, Peter. The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers. New York: Public Affairs, 2011. Print.
Walton, Hanes. Letters to President Obama: Americans Share Our Hopes and Dreams with the First African-American President. New York: Skyhorse Pub, 2009. Print.
