Today, for the eighth time, the nation will collectively mourn the nearly 3,000 people killed during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Those attacks focused our attention on Afghanistan because it was in that country that al-Qaeda, the terrorist group led by Osama bin Laden, planned and trained for the day of death and destruction.
Now, eight years after 9/11, we must re-focus our attention on Afghanistan because, it seems, we are no closer to concluding our mission there.
President Obama has inherited a political and military nightmare. How do we win? How do we even define victory?
Americans initially backed President George W. Bush’s strategy there — even through the unfortunate detour to Iraq — but the political winds have changed. The public is growing increasingly concerned about the war and the unsuccessful attempts to track down bin Laden and root out his followers. Although the allied coalition routed the repressive Taliban government and sent its leaders fleeing in disarray, Taliban followers have regrouped over the years and continue to pose a formidable security challenge to the U.S.
Last week, the new commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, issued a report offering a “mixed” picture of the United States’ position. He likely will request an expansion of forces there.
Some Democrats, as well as some conservatives, such as columnist George Will, have urged the president to rethink his foreign policy and even pull out troops from the country.
Others from both sides of the aisle have countered that an exit would leave America susceptible to possibly even more attacks. Most recently, a conservative group, the Foreign Policy Initiative, sent a letter to the president praising his move to place more troops on the ground in Afghanistan and urging him to provide an even bigger force there to “implement a successful counterinsurgency strategy.”
The letter was signed by former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and Karl Rove, a senior adviser to President Bush.
We knew the war in Afghanistan wouldn’t be easy, but were convinced that it was a worthwhile struggle for a better and safer world. And we continue to believe that toppling the Taliban regime was essential, given its links to al-Qaeda.
But with talk of ramping up troop levels, President Obama needs to explain an uncertain and costly war strategy to the American people. Trillions of dollars have been spent promoting stability in the region, but the real cost comes in the lives that have been lost.
August was the deadliest month for Americans serving in Afghanistan. Fifty-one troops died there, and already this month, 11 members of our military have been killed.
The president must define his goals, not just in numbers of troops, but in what constitutes success and failure.
As we remember the images of hijacked planes knifing into the twin towers, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, and as we honor the firefighters and other heroes who gave their lives that day, we hope some clarity can soon be brought to this nation’s Afghan policy.
This is Obama’s war now. Without a clear plan, he is in danger of losing the country’s support as Operation Enduring Freedom heads toward an operation that has endured too long.
