Churchill Would Have Understood the Problem in Afghanistan

Winston Churchill once said, “A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.” I was sadly reminded of this today on hearing that two US military advisors to the Afghan UN forces were killed in a shootout in the Ministry of the Interior in Kabul. The officers were found dead in their offices, bullet wounds in their heads, according to one Afghan source, who said that an armed Afghan apparently shot them. Afghan President Karzai has called for calm and restraint in the aftermath of the attack and deaths. The UN general in charge, John Allen, has withdrawn all UN counsellors from Kabul ministries. The British government has also withdrawn its counsellors from Afghan ministries. American Defense Department officials have responded, saying the deaths were “unacceptable.” Afghan Defense Minister, Abdul Rahim Wardak, offered his excuses to the American government. President Obama has agreed with President Karzai that calm and discussions are needed at this time. The Spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, Sediq Sediqqi, has stated that there are ongoing investigations to determine who is responsible for the killings. The Taliban has announced that one of their insurgents, Abdul Rahman, fired the shots that killed four people, as a reaction against the “lack of respect” shown by foreign forces in Afghanistan, and especially for the burning of the Koran. The Taliban added that it has called on its insurgents to kill American military personnel, who were characterized as “invaders.” Winston Churchill, who often seemed responsible for the entire world during the Second World War, also once said, “Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.” This is exactly where the UN and American forces are right now in Afghanistan. The Taliban has whipped up devastatingly anti-American and anti-foreigner sentiment among ordinary Afghans. It has poisoned the relationship that was to make it possible to put Afghanistan on a footing to manage its own affairs by 2014 so that the UN forces could withdraw. The Taliban have obviously seized on the numerous errors in judgment made by American troops - burning copies of the Koran, urinating on corpses, actions that should never have happened but which do happen in war - to push the UN and Americans out of the country as soon as possible. These unforeseen events are among the very things Churchill was talking about. They can change the dynamics of a war in hours today when TV and inserted journalists make the news immediately available around the world, as it should be, I might add. I have written several blogs about the foolhardiness of being in Afghanistan in the first place. We shouldn’t be there and we should get out. The Taliban will never be eliminated by our tactical programs and we are simply giving them propaganda fodder every day that we remain in Afghanistan. On this point, as is often the case, Ron Paul is absolutely right. America has no business policing the world or nation-building where it is not welcome. His call for strategic withdrawals is a voice crying in the wilderness, but it is a voice of reason, especially vis-à-vis Afghanistan. Just one more word from Mr. Churchill concerning war : “ However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.”