Commentary: Afghanistan isn't worth one more American life
Joseph L. Galloway | McClatchy Newspapers
last updated: September 04, 2009 09:49:25 AM
The debate over our creeping military mission in distant Afghanistan grows ever hotter, and before we march even deeper into trouble, perhaps it’s time to dig out the old Powell Doctrine and answer the eight questions it poses.
Gen. Colin Powell, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said these questions all must be answered with a loud YES before the United States takes military action. He listed his questions in the 1990 run-up to the Persian Gulf War, drawing heavily on the Weinberger Doctrine that was laid down by former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger during the debate over America's ends and means in Lebanon.
* 1. Is a vital national security interest threatened?
* 2. Do we have a clear, attainable objective?
* 3. Have the risks and costs been fully and frankly analyzed?
* 4. Have all non-violent policy means been exhausted?
* 5. Is there a plausible exit strategy to avoid endless entanglement?
* 6. Have all the consequences of our action been fully considered?
* 7. Is the action supported by the American people?
* 8. Do we have broad international support?
Those questions weren't asked and answered before we invaded Afghanistan late in 2001, and by the time we invaded Iraq early in 2003, then-defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was declaring the Powell doctrine "outmoded" as he ran premature victory laps around a fleeting success in Afghanistan.
The Bush administration is gone, but both Iraq and Afghanistan are still with us, and now a new president is overseeing a slow-motion U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and a slow-motion U.S. escalation in Afghanistan.
It can fairly be argued that not a single affirmative answer can be given to Gen. Powell's eight questions with regard to the actions now planned or underway in Afghanistan. Had those questions been asked about Iraq in early 2003, not a single affirmative answer could have been given.
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