Afghanistan War - E-book - ePub

Unlike the war in Iraq which had entered its last stage, thewar in Afghanistan appears to have several open ends. Thesecurity situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated greatly and nocomprehensive political outcome has yet arrived. By early 2009, several members of Congress, the officials of the administrationand the outside experts had concluded that the efforts knownas the America's "other war" required great national attention.
In the inaugural address speech, the US President BarrackObama had stated that the United States would forge ahard-earned peace in Afghanistan. For the Afghanistan government, the war was an existentialstruggle for survival against the Taliban and other insurgents aswell as the long-term efforts for the establishment of sustainablesecurity and great stability. For the US government, the war inAfghanistan was concerned about the security of bothAfghanistan and the surrounding regions.
The concern alsoincluded the denial of the safe heaven to the terrorists and inensuring the stable and constructive regional security balance. For the regional states which included Russia and India as wellas the immediate neighbors of Afghanistan including Pakistanand Iran, the war in Afghanistan is critical as it can have apowerful impact on the future security and the balance ofinfluence and power in the region.
For the individual membersof the NATO Alliance, the war might be the combination ofdefeating the terrorist networks, proving themselves as efficientNATO members, ensuring the regional stability anddemonstrating the relevance of the Alliance of the securitychallenges of the 21st century. Looking ahead, the United States government faces severaloperational and strategic decisions about the further engagementof Afghanistan in war.
Some of the decisions include:Clarification of the national interests of the United States inAfghanistan and the surrounding regions. The definition of the clear strategic objectives which arebased on the specified national interests. The determination of the military, economic and diplomaticapproaches which need to be adopted and what resourcesare committed to supporting the various kinds of approaches.
The prioritization of the war in Afghanistan war incomparison to the imperatives of the national securities whichwould include the war in Iraq and the preparation to meetthe potential threats. The helping of the marshal in a coordinated application ofthe international efforts. The United States has argued over the security of Afghanistansince decades. As the world is working on building the nationalsecurity in Afghanistan and the neighboring areas along withthe local defense forces, there is still a great need to redoublethe efforts at building up and strengthening the Afghan humancapital and the proper institution of governance that would beable to stand up on its own one day as an effective andindependent government.