19 September 2021
Frontline Was Wrong To Say Obama Failed In Afghanistan
In a recent Frontline report one expert said that the U.S. and its allies in Afghanistan failed to accomplish nation-building. Really, they were there to protect our security. In fact, the Taliban does not threaten U.S. security; they are not our enemy. Still, they must be disciplined should they, even mistakenly, shelter an activity that poses such a threat. That is what the Bush and Obama administrations did. Continued armed intervention in Afghanistan afterwards was the product of mission-creep. The Biden administration has correctly put it to an end.
Unfortunately, the unwarranted extended allied incursion into the country has led certain Afghans, particularly educated women, to believe that things had changed forever. Now that the Taliban has returned to power, we all should realize that it will only be up to the Afghans themselves to change their culture. America shouldn’t impose that change; it may only incentivize it with peaceful diplomatic, trade and aid programs.
That will surely take time. In order not to waste that time, demonstrations and protests to emphasize the urgency of Afghans’ issues would better be directed at the governments of the U.S. and its allies to pressure them to strengthen their diplomatic efforts than at the authoritarian Taliban regime. Moreover, those Afghan activists must obtain support from private Western NGOs and political influencers to make their appeal effective.
In today’s interconnected world social change, even in only one country, has to be sought on a global stage using modern tools that rely on more lastingly persuasive means than military occupation.
