U.S. Requests Allied Countries to Increase Troops in Afghanistan

Published in Wen Wei Po
(Hong Kong) on 27 November 2009
by He Liangliang (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Amy Przybyla. Edited by Joanne Hanrahan.
American President Barack Obama scheduled a speech for next Tuesday, in which he will indicate how the U.S. will eventually withdraw troops from Afghanistan. However, its premise is actually that the U.S. wants to increase troops first, and moreover that the U.S. wants its allied countries to take action as well. The United States Department of Defense spokespeople said that if President Obama decides to increase troops in Afghanistan, the U.S. expects allied countries to also take similar action. McChrystal, the U.S. and NATO’s military commander in Afghanistan, has stated that, due to the Taliban’s resurgence, he needs even more troops; otherwise, the joint action in Afghanistan will face defeat. This evaluation, as well as related secret requests for increasing troops, has prompted President Obama to consider this strategy for Afghanistan.  

America's situation in Afghanistan can be described as “holding the wolf by the ears” (or “riding on a tiger, there is no way to back down”). There are nearly 100,000 soldiers in Afghanistan: the U.S. military presence numbers nearly 70,000; NATO's contingent nearly 30,000; and yet they are unable to defeat the Taliban’s 20,000-man “amateur army.” This is not because the U.S. military and NATO's weapons are inferior, but because the American and NATO soldiers do not have fighting spirit and do not know for whom they are fighting. This problem can not be solved by sending more troops.

Some reports have stated that the U.S. has continuously been seeking Chinese participation in Afghanistan's peace-keeping mission. In the final analysis, the U.S. wants to take advantage of China to fight the Taliban. Originally, as Afghanistan's neighbor, China’s participation (as well as that of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization) in Afghan peacekeeping is both necessary and possible. The question is, if the Chinese army enters Afghanistan, how would it coordinate with the U.S. army and NATO, whether or not the United Nations adopts the corresponding resolution? The U.S. military obviously does not want to engage in any joint actions with the Chinese army in Afghanistan (or anywhere else); this is to prevent the Chinese from learning American command and communication systems and techniques. Therefore, the U.S. can only continue to send more troops to Afghanistan, and Obama must continue to carry out an impossible task: to choose a warpath in Afghanistan. To establish an effective government, the NATO allied countries have no choice but to continue dispatching troops until all their armies grow weary.


美國要求盟國增兵阿富汗
何亮亮 鳳凰衛視評論員

 美國總統奧巴馬預定下周二發表演說,表明美國最終將如何從阿富汗撤軍。然而其前提卻是,美國先要增兵,而且要盟國一同行動。美國國防部發言人說,如果奧巴馬總統決定向阿富汗增派軍隊,美國期待盟國也採取同樣的行動。美國及北約駐阿富汗軍隊總指揮麥克里斯特爾曾經表示,由於塔利班捲土重來,他需要更多軍隊,否則在阿富汗的聯合行動就將面臨失敗。這一評估以及有關增兵的秘密請求促使奧巴馬總統審議對阿富汗的戰略。

 美國在阿富汗的處境,用騎虎難下來形容是再確切不過了。10萬軍隊,其中美軍近7萬,北約近3萬,卻無法擊敗塔利班的兩萬「毛賊」,這不是美軍和北約的武器不精良,而是美軍與北約戰士沒有鬥志,不知為誰而戰,這一問題,是再增兵也無法解決的。

 有報道稱美國一直在尋求中國軍隊參與阿富汗的維和任務,說穿了是想借助中國打擊塔利班。本來,作為阿富汗的鄰國,中國(以及上合組織)參與阿富汗維和是必要與可能的。問題是,如果中國軍隊進入阿富汗,如何與美軍、北約協調?聯合國又是否通過相應的決議?美軍顯然不想在阿富汗(以及其他地方)與中國軍隊聯合行動,以防自己的指揮、通訊系統被中方了解。於是,美國只能在阿富汗繼續增兵,奧巴馬也只能繼續執行一個不可能的任務:用武力平定阿富汗並且建立一個真正能夠管治的政府,北約盟國只能繼續出兵,直至師老兵疲。
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