Obama’s General Trouble

If the invasion of Iraq is considered the most inexcusable error by Washington during the Bush era, Afghanistan is on its way to becoming President Obama’s ‘Iraq.’ Yesterday, the head of state fired the highest commander of the United States’ forces in this Asian country, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, after the publication of his controversial statements in an article in the musical magazine Rolling Stone.

The soldier and his advisors referred to the majority of the White House security cabinet, from Obama on down, in disparaging terms. Furthermore, they expressed harsh criticism and mockery of Washington’s management of the conflict. However, aside from the scandal, the departure of the experienced McChrystal reflects the shortcomings of the U.S. in dealing with what they encounter in Afghanistan.

Since taking office, the U.S. head of state adopted the intervention on the Taliban’s home turf as the ‘good’ war in the face of the discredited conflict in Iraq, which demoralized his predecessor, Bush. Last year, the White House debated between two war strategies: a traditional military collision, with combatants, or a counterinsurgency force to win “the hearts and minds” of the civil society. McChrystal, defender of the latter initiative, not only convinced Washington, he also received an additional 30,000 new soldiers.

However, the results this year have been disappointing. The long duration of hostilities and his inability to develop an exit strategy began to create fractures in the international alliance: The government of Holland and the president of Germany have already left, and the Canadians are packing their bags. Last week, the war in Afghanistan became the longest war in the history of the United States Army after Vietnam, and neither Obama nor his commanders dare to claim victory. To the contrary, the accusations of corruption and nepotism against the Afghan president and ally of Washington, Hamid Karzai, does not cease, and the legitimacy of the post-Taliban regime is at its lowest point.

The most worrisome aspect is that the dismissal of McChrystal was not due to strategic discrepancies in the conduction of the conflict — as that of Gen. Douglas MacArthur in Korea 59 years ago. That is to say, Washington will continue in Afghanistan — now under the commander in Iraq, David Petraeus — with a military wager in doubt. After eight years, thousands of deaths and hundreds of millions of dollars, Obama does not have clarity over what will constitute the final victory or how to head toward a dignified exit.