May 28, 2014
When 9,800 Doesn't Equal 9,800
News coverage of President Obama's speech at West Point Wednesday focused on one seemingly hard and fast statement: The United States will keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan next year, ensuring that the nation's longest war continues a little longer. The 9,800 troop figure has been repeated so often, and in so many places, that it actually obscures a key point: An invisible army of American diplomats, intelligence personnel, civilian government officials, and contractors will remain in Afghanistan well in the future, likely outnumbering the 9,800 troops that will be there next year and the smaller numbers of troops that will be there in the years to come.
The size, scope, composition, and duration of that civilian mission to Afghanistan will hinge on the way the Obama administration answers four questions: (1) what does Washington plan to do in Afghanistan; (2) how will the White House divide those missions among military, civilian, and contractor personnel; (3) what level of risk should the United States be willing to accept for our missions and our personnel; and (4) how much will Washington rely on allies, both Afghan and international, to shoulder the burden going forward. Depending on how the administration answers those questions, and what mixture of civilians and contractors it chooses to field, the U.S. civilian presence in Afghanistan could grow to be two or three times as large as the military mission there -- or more.
More from CNAS
-
Bad Idea: Relying on the Same Old Solutions to Meet the Military Recruitment Challenge
Military service provides the sense of mission, purpose, and stability that members of Gen Z seek that few other options offer....
By Katherine L. Kuzminski & Tom Spoehr
-
Getting to Ground Truth on the Reach of Domestic Violent Extremist Groups into the Military, Veteran, and Law Enforcement Communities
On Jan. 17, three active-duty Marines, Cpl. Micah Coomer, Sgt. Joshua Abate, and Sgt. Dodge Dale Hellonen, were each charged with four misdemeanors in connection with the Jan....
By Katherine L. Kuzminski, Carrie Cordero & Arona Baigal
-
Recruiting Women to the Military
Kate Kuzminski, director of the Military, Veterans, and Society Program at Center for a New American Security, joined Government Matters to discuss recruiting, and women in th...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
-
Stop Holding Recruits to One-Size-Fits-All Standards
Whether they are in uniform or not, if the military doesn’t attract these data scientists, engineers, and coders, it will continue to fall short of its recruiting goals, and m...
By LCDR Stewart Latwin & Lt Col Ernest "Nest” Cage