U.S War on Afghanistan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

U.S War on Afghanistan - Term Paper Example Americans truly understand that the question concerning Afghanistan is not about winning the war but whether it leads to national security. The Obama administration should speed up troop withdrawal and turn over combat to the Afghan Army. The Obama administration should speed up troop withdrawal and turn over combat to the Afghan Army. Getting rid of al Qaeda does not need a large scale and long term military presence in Afghanistan for several reasons. First and foremost, we must bear in mind that the military does very well in killing bad people, bombing command centers, destroying enemy troop formations, but not able to find hidden killers. The close cooperation with agencies that enforce foreign law and the scalpel of intelligence sharing has done more in rounding up suspected terrorists as compared to the military force. Whether we choose to stay or withdraw, al Qaeda can capitalize on our choice to remain victorious. If we happen to withdraw, we may appear weak despite the fact that the U.S is responsible for about a half of the military spending in the world. Its power can be projected to the most unreachable places in the word and come up with one of the largest nuclear arsenals globally. The United States of America also seems to be weak if it remains in Afghanistan for a longer period of time. Our military will appear weak, with aimless strategies and irrespective of our efforts; continued military operations will kill more Afghan civilians thus reducing the support we have among the population. Our policy towards Afghanistan has undermined the main U.S. interests in Pakistan. Operations have managed to kill quite a number of high value targets, and this may have gravely degraded al Qaeda’s international capabilities. Unfortunately, our policies are pushing the region’s jihadist insurgency over the boundary into Pakistan. In the year 2007, tribal based groups referred to as the Taliban started emerging in the Pakistan border region in re sponse to frequent Pakistan army incursions. The current U.S. policy is continuously pushing militants into Pakistan cities, thus strengthening the jihadist forces that we are seeking to defeat, therefore, pressing the nuclear armed country into war (Adam 34). Nevertheless, the most terrible thing we can do is concentrate in this region entirely. This is the same thing we did some time back when we funded the mujahedeen, but there were costs for being in the region for a long time. We accomplished very little but gave al Qaeda the chance to push the conflict into Pakistan. America should speed up troop withdrawal; continue with open relations and sharing of intelligence with all countries of the region. It should also deploy Special Forces for operations against particular targets and engage in rigorous surveillance (Schmitt 25). For the last few years, violence in Afghanistan has been dubbed an â€Å"insurgency† which requires the application of a counterinsurgency strategy. This has risen to prominence in the U.S defense force and national security thinking that relies on theology. Counterinsurgency has become common in the present and future wars. It has thus become a new way of war for the Americans. The challenge of counterinsurgency theory and doctrine is that it hinders our ability to apprehend the nature of our predicament in Afghanistan accurately. This theory gives emphasis on the population meeting its needs, developing economies and establishing governmental legitimacy (Cooley 72). According to the theory, most of the population is not sure on whose side they should be on, we should capitalize on this to influence them to choose us. The U.S should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by using a public timetable. They should negotiate with the government of Afghanistan and other key partners. The U.S public is against the war in Afghanistan thus the war should be brought to an end. Even