Obama's New War!

At last the American President Barack Obama has announced his long-awaited plan relating to Pakistan and Afghanistan. According to a Washington Post editorial last Friday, the new plan contains a blend of the recommendations of the previous administration and a rare political courage, since the new president is imposing upon America (at a time when it is going through a big economic crisis) the question of increasing the number of troops and attempting to reconstruct Afghanistan.

Obama's plan is getting support, as the general feeling in Washington is that it is necessary to move strongly to treat the dossiers on Pakistan and Afghanistan. Intelligence assumes that al-Qaeda, from inside Pakistan, is planning to launch attacks inside America, which makes it mandatory to act quickly. Moreover, there is a real fear among American observers that the collapse of the Afghan government and the return of the Taliban is likely to give freedom of movement and maneuver to al-Qaeda which will in turn target America at any given level.

This being the case, President Obama is thinking of the need to take initiative, for the goal is to thwart and disintegrate al-Qaeda not only in Afghanistan but also in Pakistan. And Obama's mere announcement of the new plan is a proof or sign of the American understanding that Bush's strategy in Afghanistan has failed miserably, for the Taliban have grown stronger than before, and that the significant weakness of the Afghan and Pakistani governments involves many dangerous threats to U.S. interests.

However, since President Obama has chosen Afghanistan-Pakistan, and not Iraq, as a scene for the war on terror he is therefore adopting a new strategy which consists of two parts: military and civil. Hence, Obama is working towards conquering, or let us say winning over the sympathy of the Afghan and Pakistani peoples in regions where the terrorists operate. Only then can the administration contribute towards building the institutions and the State in a manner that will allow the Americans to withdraw without this being due to America's defeat in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

All eyes are undoubtedly directed to the new president to know the extent to which he is earnest and prepared to find victory in Afghanistan. Obama filled us, when he was a presidential candidate, with talks of the need for a new approach to achieve victory in Afghanistan. Now he wants to send a message of seriousness and desire to strive towards reducing U.S. losses and dealing with the heavy legacy left by President Bush.

It must be pointed out here that Obama's security team believes that victory in Afghanistan and Pakistan is possible, and that is why the U.S. does not care much about the attitude of the NATO alliance which is seemingly tired of the situation in Afghanistan. This led to Obama setting out to increase American forces in a way that will allow them to pull the rug from under the Taliban and its allies as a prelude to attaining America's goals of victory or even negotiation from a strong position.

Therefore, Obama's statement is nothing more than an announcement that he has officially taken charge of the dossier on war in Afghanistan. It can be said he will be judged not only by how he deals with the crunching economic crisis, but also by what can be called "Obama's war" in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In this sense, he announces his assumption of command of the most critical issue, which is the dossier on Afghanistan and Pakistan. In contrast with the previous president, George Bush, who defined the task in Afghanistan as enforcing democracy, this will perhaps be the exit out of the war on terror, as President Obama has defined the task more clearly: that American forces are present in Afghanistan in order to defeat al-Qaeda both in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In my opinion this raises an important question: can the Obama administration come to terms with moderate Taliban members and conclude a deal with the moderate Taliban guaranteeing that Afghanistan will not become a safe haven for al-Qaeda, and that Afghanistan will not be a starting point for terrorist attacks on a global level, in return for America disregarding the Taliban's practices regarding human rights and democracy. Let us wait and see before giving a reply.