Reassessed Goals and Strategies for Afghanistan

The question is, should America send more troops into the Afghanistan War? I don’t see there being a clear answer to this. It is such a complex question. That is why I am glad that President Obama is taking his time and asking numerous people their expert opinions on the topic. It seems that the average American has the same questions as the President:

• How specifically does adding more troops equal success?
• What is the end goal?
• What are the new strategies?
• Is there an end date in sight?
• What is the exit strategy?
• Do the Afghan people want our help?
• Are the Afghan people willing to work with us?

We all know why we entered this war in 2001, and no one at that time questioned it, Osama bin Laden bragged about what he did and we had to defend our country without a doubt. But it is 8 years later, and strategies need to be reassessed; this war cannot go on indefinitely, it is unfair to our troops and the people of Afghanistan to stay there without a clear goal in mind.

This situation needs to be looked at from every possible angle to assure it is a success. Our military, of course, has an in-depth expertise that I cannot begin to fathom, but that is just one side. I wonder what the Afghan people want. They are crucial in the ending of this war; without them wanting the same end goal as America, it seems a successful outcome is quite impossible. Our military needs to work with their soldiers and police to stop Al Queda and other such rebel forces. However, the issue that I see is trust. Americans can be viewed as occupiers; let’s face it, we aren’t the most loved country across the world. We all know that Al Queda is definitely pushing anti-American propaganda and we can be viewed as the enemy, so how can putting in more troops help? This is why I’m confused at the goal of more troops.

Just because I have read a few articles and seen some interviews on CNN, doesn’t make me an expert by any means, but I think it needs to be looked at from every vantage point. We need to focus on how we are going to ultimately get the troops out and help the Afghan people have a legit government so rebel groups like Al Queda can no longer have a hold on this country.  If the answer is more troops, then maybe that is what we need to do, but I think a new, clear strategy needs to be presented to justify this request. It shouldn’t just be granted automatically.