Numerous U.S. reports allude to mass success in Afghanistan. President Obama has even went on believing our successes in Afghanistan should permit U.S. forces withdraw. Several Generals and politicians on the right and left have swallowed the Kool-Aid publicly proclaiming everything in Afghanistan is just “peachy-keen.” Today, we realize our positive perception of Afghanistan is simply a misnomer.
Everything in Afghanistan is not “peachy-keen.” In fact, for the past two years, things in Afghanistan have gotten much worse. Death tolls have risen, insurgents have operated in the heart of Kabul, and numerous incidents of our so-called Afghan counterparts founded in their national army and police force have murdered our troops.
Some would argue however that these incidents have simply occurred due to our aggressive foot patrols, hearts and minds operations, and “Peace Jirga” interactions. Such adventures expose our troops to the hostilities making them likelier targets. While U.S. forces may be more exposed, this does not justify a higher mortality rate in the past two years.
There must come a time when, contrary to what our elected officials and their puppets proclaim, America accepts the fact that Afghanistan was an utter strategic failure. Numerous tactical successes could be found in Afghanistan however, because our tactical objectives have not coincided with our strategic objectives since around the 2003 timeframe, we have recently been traveling backwards in the Islamic Republic.
Most past and present military advisers, including myself, know this. Unfortunately, our politicians and many of our highest ranking military leaders refuse to accept such facts. Advisers mostly agree however that our government elite and military leaders do understand the truths behind Afghanistan yet refuse to publicly display such truths for political reasons–how sad.
Afghanistan did not start as a political war. Clear strategic objectives were declared after 9-11 allowing tactical operatives the flexibility to determine their executable measure needed to meet those objectives. When we all wore beards, drove in non-standard operating procedure movements, and diligently worked alongside anti-Taliban elements, we swiftly defeated the enemy. The nation was seized and people were freed. This lasted approximately one and a half years.
For whatever reason, after our initial successes, things in Afghanistan turned political. Special operators were told to shave their beards–a directive that didn’t last very long, wear military uniforms rather than the local garb, fulfill more direct action missions versus the traditional “train, mentor, and advise” missions dramatically needed for counter insurgency operations. It got so bad that SOF eventually were used to augment the conventional forces rather than conventional forces augmenting the SOF.
Soon, with this politically correct conundrum, we began nation building. Nation building was never a focus in Afghanistan until the 2003/2004 timeline. By 2003, the first Provincial Reconstruction Team was operational in eastern Afghanistan. By 2006, PRT’s became official entities for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Nation building has proven a worthless principle in war time operations. It should be conducted after wars end–but again, the concept was all politically motivated anyway.
The United States placed hundreds of thousands of our best and brightest in harm’s way. Many paid the ultimate sacrifice. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 95% of veterans returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan have some form of PTSD. In 2009, America lost more soldiers to suicide, than to the Iraq & Afghanistan wars – combined! Approximately 40% of the adult male homeless population in the United States comprises veterans and that number is expeditiously rising. More than 2 million American children have had a parent deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan. Over 4,300 children have lost a parent in Iraq or Afghanistan. At least 19,000 children have had a parent wounded in action.
Based on the previous statistics which were taken directly out of the Veterans Affairs, National Coalition of the Homeless, and Department of Defense databases, it is obvious that this war doesn’t just affect our veterans, it affects an entire country–but for what?
With every sacrifice made, every tear shed, every ounce of blood lost, reports are now being leaked that our political leaders acknowledge one alarming fact–the Taliban, gravely controlled by Pakistan, will likely resume control over Afghanistan when U.S. forces depart. This means, proof is in the pudding that Pakistan never was and never will be an ally to the United States. This doesn’t mean that Afghan Taliban (i.e. disgruntled villagers), as often labeled, will take over rather the Pakistani led Taliban will.
The lives of our troops and their families have been used and abused by politicians both on the left and right. The President wants to be re-elected as do many in Congress and the Senate. An election year is headed our way and withdrawing troops from Iraq early will be used as leverage to gain votes. Don’t think for one second that similar diatribes won’t be used regarding Afghanistan.
Kerry Patton, a combat service disabled veteran, is a senior analyst for WIKISTRAT and owner of IranWarMonitor.com. He has worked in South America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, focusing on intelligence and security and interviewing current and former terrorists, including members of the Taliban. He is the author of Sociocultural Intelligence: The New Discipline of Intelligence Studies and the children’s book American Patriotism. You can follow him on Facebook.
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