America’s Afghanistan policy
A Taliban letter to the American president shows how far the Afghan war has really come. Back when George W Bush unleashed Enduring Freedom, “We don’t talk to terrorists” – then the official line – was immediately shoved down the throats of anyone advocating talks with Taliban elders in order to isolate al Qaeda, the real enemy. Then they tried troop reduction. Then they tried troop surges. Then, for years, they tried to get everybody to talk to each other – Taliban, Americans, Pakistanis, even the Chinese. Now, once again, US generals close to President Trump are calling for one last surge for a final throw of the dice on the Afghan war.
The Taliban, who have been gaining ground and sympathisers for years now, are calling for an immediate US pullout. They’ve been making the same demand ever since the turnaround years of the war, especially 2006 onwards, when they started winning back land. And they have a point. Long years of America’s longest war have proved that more men just provide the enemy with more targets and a longer war in Afghanistan. And, it says a lot that after 16 years and three presidents, Washington is still torn between more or less troops.
The solution, ultimately, lies in getting all sides back to the negotiating table and hammer out a doable solution. Short of an across-the-board agreement, no amount of men and machines will be able to wrap up the war. If Trump is to succeed where his predecessors failed, he will have to make sure he, unlike Obama and Bush, gets the talks not the surge to succeed.
