Positions on U.S. & NATO role in Afghanistan

Position 1: Trudy Rubin- Writes the Worldview column for the Philidelphia Inquirer. Has visited the Middle East and surrounding areas various times, and she won the Edward Weintal prize for her international reporting.

David Kilcullen- Formerly in the Australian Army. Now, he is an advisor for the U.S., NATO, and other countries on counterinsurgency and counterterrorism.

Send more U.S./NATO troops into Afghanistan to fight insurgency

• Secure Afghanistan and tribal areas of Pakistan- Secure population centers, cities, and villages, and destroy the havens that the Taliban and Al Qaeda have established. The Taliban are able to thrive in the tribal regions and pose a threat to Afghanistan and the Pakistani government.
• Improve the lives of the Afghan people- Improve living standards by working within Afghan communities, and influence the government to help curb corruption. Target Taliban control at the local level.
• Build Afghanistan into a "self-defending" nation- Training of and working with Afghan army and police.

Position 2: Michael A. Cohen- Member of the New America Foundation, where he examines the "...impact of non-state actors in U.S. foreign policy." Formerly part of the U.S. Department of State, he is continuously involved with international affairs.

Parag Khanna- Member of the American Strategy Program, and Director of the Global Governance Initiative. He has travelled around the world and speaks various languages, and was awarded the OECD Future Leaders Prize.

Shift military efforts to Pakistan

• Taliban unpopular in Afghanistan- Taliban do not have any chance of taking back control of Afghanistan.
• Pakistan more promising than Afghanistan- We are supporting a corrupt government in Afghanistan, where success is uncertain. We have seen results in Pakistan, have better intelligence, and would therefore be able to improve accuracy of airstrikes.
• Support Pakistan government- Asist Pakistan to "clear, hold, and build" the tribal areas, which would decrease Taliban and Al Qaeda movement across the border.

Position 3: Tariq Ali- A British-Pakistani historian, filmmaker, political campaigner, and novelist. He is a frequent commentator on current events and has writen articles for The Guardian.

Pull troops out of Afghanistan and focus on rebuilding

• Taliban has grown- A "second-generation Taliban" is growing, partly due to upset regarding the actions of the occupying U.S. and NATO. Many Afghan civilians have been killed during airstrikes. Taliban have become symbol for "national liberation."
• Other problems in Afghanistan that should be adressed- Afghanistan suffers from poverty, corruption in the government, and high mortality rates- Rebuild socially and economically.
• Create support from surrounding countries- Get surrounding countries (Pakistan, Iran, India, Russia, and others) to sign pact to support Afghanistan.

Position 4: George Will- Author and journalist who won the Pulitzer Prize. Has written about his political philosophy and has written columns for The Washington Post and Newsweek.

Withdraw U.S./NATO troops from Afghanistan

• Continue attacks from offshore- Use intelligence to continue airstrikes from offshore, targeting the Pakistani border.
• Too many troops needed for too much time- Would need hundreds of thousands of troops for maybe decades. Taliban are able to slip across border and escape. Has become a "nation-building" war- where do the invasions stop?
• Ineffective Afghan central government- Afghan government is corrupt and many of its officials are involved in opium trade.

U.S. Plan in Afghanistan
In his speech Tuesday night (Dec. 1, 2009), President Obama outlined his plan for the U.S. in Afghanistan. His plan consists of sending an additional 30,000 American troops into Afghanistan, but also sets the timetable of beginning to pull out troops by mid 2011. We will be focusing our efforts on attacking Al Qaeda, and will also be attempting to regain security that has been destroyed by the Taliban. President Obama said that this first year would require $30 billion to pay for the war. Our goal is to regain security, especially in highly populated cities, and to disengage our troops as quickly as we can. Additional troops from NATO are also expected. Obama has pressured Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, with demands to combat corruption and trafficking, which fuels the Taliban, and we will have increased airstrikes and greater pressure on insurgents in Afghanistan.
I believe that it is essential that we attempt to create security in Afganistan, and this would hopefully help with security in surrounding countries, which would affect global security. I think the "short-term, high-intensity effort" is the most effective plan to accomplish our goals. If we will be fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, we will need to establish security in the regions we are fighting, specifically for the sake of civilians. We will need contributions from the Afghanistan government, which needs to be strengthened for the future, and also from the Pakistan government. I also believe that it is important to set goals, such as with the timetable. Some people criticized setting a timetable, but if we don't have a goal for the amount of time we want to be in Afghanistan, there's no telling how long we'll be there. The lives of the Afghanis is another aspect of the war that we need to consider. If we will be using airstrikes, we must be sure that they are precise, so that there are not civilian deaths (even though it may be difficult to tell the Taliban from the civilians). We, along with out allies, can also contribute resources towards education and other resources needed by the residents of Afghanistan.