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23 Jul 2008 01:31 pm
A Hawk On Afghanistan
By Patrick Appel
Juan Cole is wary of Obama's Afghanistan policy:
Before he jumps into Afghanistan with both feet, Obama would be well
advised to consult with another group of officers. They are the
veterans of the Russian campaign in Afghanistan. Russian officers caution
that Afghans cannot be conquered, as the Soviets attempted to do in the
1980s with nearly twice as many troops as NATO and the U.S. now have in
the country, and with three times the number of Afghan troops as Karzai
can deploy. Afghanistan never fell to the British or Russian empires at
the height of the age of colonialism. Conquering the tribal forces of a
vast, rugged, thinly populated country proved beyond their powers. It
may also well prove beyond the powers even of the energetic and
charismatic Obama. In Iraq, he is listening to what the Iraqis want. In
Pakistan, he is simply dictating policy in a somewhat bellicose
fashion, and ignoring the wishes of those moderate parties whose
election he lauded last February.
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