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He's Despised, He's Reviled, But Erik Prince Has A Point About Afghanistan
[Forbes] Erik Prince is back, publicizing his plan for the Afghan war that is both heretical and worth considering. For those unfamiliar with the name, Prince founded the security company, Blackwater, which provided private security details in Iraq. He claimed never to have lost the client, but the company was accused of atrocities, particularly a 2007 incident in Baghdad where 20 people were killed. To say he is controversial would be an understatement.Last year, Prince proposed a plan to the administration to create a "viceroy" in Afghanistan and to transfer most support activities to long-serving contractors, including the advising of Afghan forces and the conduct of air operations. This was highly controversial, both because of Prince personally and because the military opposed turning so many of its customary functions over to contractors. The plan was thought to be dead. However, it has resurfaced recently, with Prince holding a series of interviews and getting some media attention. Why would anyone pay attention now? He has an opening because of the president’s frustration with the continued stalemate in Afghanistan and the military’ lack of a clear plan for concluding the conflict. A year ago, the president laid out his plan for Afghanistan, which included about 6,000 more troops above the Obama level of 9,000, and fewer restrictions on military operations. The president repeatedly talked about "winning". It’s now a year later, and victory looks no closer than it has in the previous 17 years of the war. Indeed, Afghan security forces recently lost and then re-took the town of Ghazni at great cost, part of the see-saw war that has been going on for years. The president had wanted to get out entirely, and now he’s probably feeling trapped. It’s not clear that the military has a plan to "win" or even to withdraw after achieving some minimal goals, like establishing a government that will not permit terrorist attacks on the United States. Prince offers three things that could be very useful: First, he recommends unity of command. His term "viceroy" is unfortunate because of the connotations of colonialism, but the notion that one person should be in charge of the U.S. effort makes some sense. Whether it’s possible to bring together all the elements of government, particularly the departments of Defense and State, is unclear, but it’s worth exploring. Posted by: Besoeker 2018-08-22 |
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