Call the Death of bin Laden a Victory and Leave

Obama decides how many soldiers to pull out of Afghanistan

Opposition in the U.S. Congress against continuing the war is strengthening. “Let’s call the death of Terrorist No. One a victory and let’s get out,” suggest numerous representatives. This summer the White House intends to reduce the size of its [military] contingent. However, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and generals participating in military operations warn that evacuating a significant number of soldiers plays into the hands of the enemy.

U.S. President Barack Obama and his team are determining how many soldiers to pull out from Afghanistan in July. There is no question as to why this evacuation is happening. Long ago Obama promised it to voters, who are tired of war reports about fallen American soldiers. The question is how many soldiers to pull out at the present time, and what will become of Afghanistan after NATO withdraws its entire contingent from the troubled country in 2014.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that a decision about the scale of the withdrawal has not yet been made. As experts supposed, the Pentagon suggests limiting the drawing down to 5,000 people. Last week Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, supported by generals on the battlefield, had namely this insignificant number in mind.

At the same time, opposition to continuing the war is strengthening in Congress. Congress’s most eloquent representative, Republican Walter Jones proclaimed, “Bin Laden is dead. Let’s announce that we won and go home.” Jones was seconded by Cliff Stearns, another congressman from the same party. He explained how the war is devastating the treasury, and hence the wallets of Americans. Of course, it would be nice to turn Afghanistan into a democracy. But how many years will it take? “Given the size of our fiscal deficit, we can not afford it.”

Actually, the congressmen aren’t even such tough opponents. In essence, they are restating a point from Obama’s recent speech in which he declared that “by killing bin Laden, by blunting the momentum of Taliban, we have now accomplished a lot of what we set out to accomplish 10 years ago.”

And yet, says Peter Feaver, a former national security council aide, “there has been a steady erosion of political support for a sustained engagement in Afghanistan.” This is shown by the House of Representatives’ May vote on a resolution that requires the president to accelerate the withdrawal of troops and to expand negotiations with the Taliban. The resolution, which could tie the president’s hands, did not pass. However, 204 representatives voted in favor of the resolution, while 215 supported the president.

Fellow Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee brought Obama yet another nuisance. They prepared a report on how American aid to Afghanistan, amounting to approximately $320 million per month, is being used. The authors concluded that when NATO makes its exit in 2014, Afghanistan will face a financial crisis and severe depression. Currently the aid is being used poorly, breeding corruption and undermining the possibility of Kabul controlling resources.

There is little evidence that aid is helping to stabilize the situation. The report offers data that indicates that the results of this aid are contrary to the purposes for which it was intended.