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Dr. Godfrey Garner: Why America Failed in Afghanistan
[Homeland Security Today] America for the past few years has tried in vain to extricate itself from Afghanistan. The fact is, however, try as we may, we seem to be pulled deeper into the situation. Our work with the Mujahedeen and Northern Alliance forces in defeating and driving Al Qaeda and Taliban forces out of the country within months of our entry into Operation Enduring Freedom seems a distant memory now.Today, Afghanistan is sinking back into a quagmire of chaos; an atmosphere which encourages insurgent forces such as ISIS and a resurgent Taliban, while local rule by the strong trumps national order and security in most of the country. Graft and corruption, largely unheard of before 9/11, today is the norm. ’Rule by warlord’ has to a great extent, remained triumphant over the square democracy, we have tried to force into a round hole. Last month, one of Afghanistan’s vice presidents, former Northern Alliance commander Rashid Dostum, kidnapped and held hostage one of his political opponents. The opposition candidate was kidnapped and held prisoner in one of his palaces in the northern city of Sheberghan. Something went wrong with our utopian view of what Afghanistan could be, and it is vitally important that we understand what that was. With a new administration with a seemingly new philosophy vis-à-vis America’s role in world security and international relations, we have a chance to reconsider the manner in which we pursue future conflicts. It would be folly to assume there will be fewer rather than more world conflicts that directly and indirectly affect America. It would be further folly to assume America can stand on the sidelines in all such conflicts and hope to avoid negative repercussions of such a policy. In light of this, we must reevaluate the mistakes we’ve made in the past, and Afghanistan offers a perfect lab for study. About the author: Dr. Godfrey Garner holds a PhD in counseling psychology from Mississippi State University and is currently pursuing a second PhD at the University of Southern Mississippi. Following two tours in Viet Nam and a lengthy break in military service, Dr. Garner rejoined and eventually retired from 20th Special Forces group in 2006. He completed two military and six civilian government-related tours in Afghanistan. His work in Afghanistan most recently has been as a counter-corruption analyst. He is published in Homeland Security Today and Foreign Policy Journal on issues relating to Afghanistan as well as other journals relating to higher education. He is the author of the novel Danny Kane and the Hunt for Mullah Omar. Posted by: Besoeker 2016-12-26 |
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