Problems for America

2010 is election year in America and U.S. voters will elect 435 new members to the House of Representatives, 36 new senators and 36 new governors.

It must be kept in mind that, according to surveys by the Washington Post and ABC News, the majority of Americans consider war in Afghanistan unjustified, and only one-fourth of the population of the U.S. thinks that more troops should be deployed to Afghanistan.

There is also the fact that a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan costs America $1 million annually. Meanwhile, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General McChrystal, is asking for 20,000 more troops in the country. Therefore, $40 billion will be added to the existing $65 billion of U.S. expenses in Afghanistan annually.

In addition, the month of October was the most fatal for U.S. troops, with 55 U.S. soldiers losing their lives. Previously, the highest number was 51 in August (since 2001, more than 900 U.S. soldiers have died).

In this situation, President Obama is facing a difficult scenario because Vice President Joe Biden does not support more troops being sent to Afghanistan. More importantly, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, U.S. Chief of Army Staff General George Casey Jr., [Editor’s Note: we are currently unable to identify the person indicated by the original Urdu], and advisory for national security James Jones, are also supporting Joe Biden. On the other hand, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen supports sending more troops to Afghanistan, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke and Senate Committee for National Security Chairman Carl Levin are also with him.

So, what will happen? The current dangerous situation in Afghanistan is not a result of its government. However, Obama’s Afghan policy will decide his presidential future. This decision is certainly the continuation of a lost battle during an election year. If the Republican party wins the majority of seats, Obama’s presidential agenda will become ineffective.

Right now, some events for America and Obama in the coming years are colliding with each other. For example, the Congressional election of 2010, Obama’s presidential campaign for the 2011 election, and the presidential election of 2012 all are contrasting with innumerable occurrences of Afghans fighting against Americans. Afghans will be in their country forever, so the time line for Afghans in Afghanistan is certainly capable of surpassing the time line for the U.S. And if we forget about Iraq for some time, America still has to deal with increasing Russian power and influence. Russia is once again strengthening itself in the Baltic states and in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

America is trapped, and with reference to this, Pakistan is in double trouble. In the past seven years, 900 U.S. soldiers died in the Afghan war, while the number of causalities in Pakistan has reached nearly 23 thousand.

America has never faced a suicide attack, while Pakistan has borne the brunt of 199 suicide attacks. America has run out of options and, sadly, Pakistan also has no other options left.