Afghanistan Invasion and Occupation Proved Failure

http://www.radiohc.cu/en/especiales/comentarios/72904-afghanistan-invasion-and-occupation-proved-failure



Afghanistan Invasion and Occupation Proved Failure
16/10/15

After months of discussions with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, President Obama has announced his plans to keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan but reduce them from the current 9,800 to 5,500 before he leaves office in early 2017, essentially abandoning the commitment he made early in his presidency and during the 2008 campaign to bring the war in Afghanistan to an end. Obama cites the deterioration of security and weakness of Afghan forces as the reason for keeping the troops in Afghanistan. Here is what he had to say.

“The bottom line is in key areas of the country the security situation is still very fragile. And in some places there's risk of deterioration. Fortunately in President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah there is a national unity government that supports a strong partnership with the United States. During their visit earlier this year President Ghani and I agreed to continue our counterterrorism cooperation. And he has asked for continued support as Afghan forces grow stronger.”

The announcement comes weeks after the U.S. resumed bombing in Afghanistan, where on October 3 the United States Air Force AC-130 gunship attacked Medecins Sans Frontieres' hospital in Kunduz, killing 22 people, injuring 30, and 33 remain missing.

Let’s face it. President Obama’s announcement is an extraordinary admission of what most serious analysts know of the situation, which is that more than a decade and a half after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 nothing has improved. None of the objectives have been met, and in fact the situation is worse. The invasion and occupation has been a failure. While the U.S. and NATO want to wash their hands of the larger mess that's been created, they can't allow it completely to go to those forces that are going to be hostile to both the Afghan government and to larger U.S.-NATO interests in the region.