Meteor Blades has written about Get Afghanistan Right several times but this is an effort that deserves much more attention. The Washington Post sub-headline - "Obama sees troops as buying time, not turning tide" - offers a damning glimpse into the reasoning behind the Afghanistan surge. The fact that the administration still hasn't decided what the troops will be doing once they get there is just frightening. Sadly, many of the people arguing for escalation don't offer much in the way of solutions either.
It is clear that we can not afford to blindly continue George W. Bush's non-strategy:
"We have no strategic plan. We never had one," a senior U.S. military commander said of the Bush years.
But we also deserve more than a public relations strategy:
Obama's first order of business, he said, will be to "explain to the American people what the mission is" in Afghanistan.
Gregg Levine has some questions the proponents of escalation should probably take a crack at answering:
- What are the goals of US involvement?
- What is the main objective of the military strategy
- What would "victory" look like, and what allows US troops to leave?
- How will we pay for an escalation in Afghanistan?
- What diplomatic and non-military aid initiatives will the US pursue in the immediate future?
- What role does Pakistan (and other surrounding nations) play in this conflict and its solution?
- What kind of permanent presence in Afghanistan does the Obama Administration envision, and how does that benefit America and the region?
- What is the plan for de-escalating the US military presence?
Fortunately, Get Afghanistan Right, and a dialogue about transitioning to sustainable policies in Afghanistan, are quickly building momentum. This is evidenced by the excellent coverage the project received on Rachel Maddow's show on MSNBC Tuesday night.
And so in eight pages of the "Washington Post," we have a relatively fresh and political foreign policy issue here. This is an issue. What to do in Afghanistan? Contrary to common wisdom here, contrary to what a lot of folks believe, there isn‘t actually a consensus anymore that more troops are going to be the answer.
A case in point, a new Web site launched this week by a group of progressive writers and activists urging President-elect Obama to "GetAfghanistanRight.com" by rethinking plans for a military escalation.
Kossacks, we need your help with this important effort. Read about it, blog about it, talk about it. Whatever you do, make sure you participate in the dialogue. It is clear that the corporate media isn't going to ask the hard questions, so that responsibility falls to us. I hope you'll help.
Another way to help: Digg the press release from Get Afghanistan Right. It is nearly on the front page.