January 01, 2019
Time to Get Out of Afghanistan
The decision by President Trump to withdraw 7,000 of the roughly 14,000 American troops left in Afghanistan, possibly by summer, has raised new concerns about his impulsive behavior, especially given his nearly simultaneous decision to pull out all American forces from Syria against the advice of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. But the downsizing of the Afghan mission was probably inevitable. Indeed, it may soon be time for the United States to get out of the country altogether.
No other country in the world symbolizes the decline of the American empire as much as Afghanistan. There is virtually no possibility of a military victory over the Taliban and little chance of leaving behind a self-sustaining democracy — facts that Washington’s policy community has mostly been unable to accept.
While many American troops stay behind steel-reinforced concrete walls to protect themselves from the very population they are supposed to help, it is striking how little discussion Afghanistan has generated in government and media circles in Washington. When it comes to Afghanistan, Washington has been a city hiding behind its own walls of shame and frustration.
Read the full article in The New York Times.
More from CNAS
-
A Failure to Plan: Examining the Biden Administration’s Preparation for the Afghanistan Withdrawal
Congressional Testimony
Afghanistan, Iraq, and Vietnam. One failure is a horrible accident; two failures are a tragic coincidence; three failures are a disturbing trend that shows the U.S. government...
By Christopher D. Kolenda
-
Against All Odds
Reports
Eighteen months after taking power, the Taliban is intensifying its repression of Afghan civil society and cracking down on the rights and freedoms of all Afghans, especially ...
By Lisa Curtis, Annie Pforzheimer & Jan Mohammad Jahid
-
To Help Afghanistan, Engage Its Political Opposition
Commentary
The effort to help Afghans shape a better alternative should begin now....
By Richard Fontaine & Lisa Curtis
-
International Community Must Do More to Protect Human Rights in Afghanistan
Commentary
Human rights in Afghanistan, especially those of women and girls, have deteriorated sharply during the first year of Taliban rule. The very real prospect of losing a generatio...
By Lisa Curtis, Annie Pforzheimer & Jan Mohammad Jahid
