As soon as President Obama announced his plan for Afghanistan, last week, his opponents from the right began to attack. Proving, once again, that the President’s opponents and critics cannot be satisfied or accepting of any of his policies, they found a predictably sour note in the plan. Senator John McCain went on NBC just minutes after the speech to declare his concern with a timetable to begin withdrawal in Afghanistan and, in the subsequent days, many others have followed suit.
Opponents of a withdrawal timetable will say that we shouldn’t tell the enemy when we will leave. Nevermind that this July 2011 date is tentative and dependent on the realities on the ground, they believe that the enemy, which is Al Qaeda and some of the Taliban, will just sit back and wait until we withdraw. Well, I hope that they are right. The absolute best thing that can happen for us and the world in Afghanistan is for the entities that are destabilizing that country to retreat for the next 18 months. That gives the United States and its allies 18 months to train the Afghan military and police. Eighteen months to stabilize one of the most corrupt governments in the world. Eighteen months to help stabilize Pakistan, a country that does have nuclear weapons. Eighteen months, unchallenged. That would be sweet.
When I hear that argument, I don’t know if I should laugh or cry. On the one hand, it is a ridiculous argument, but on the other hand, some of those who are making that argument are our elected leaders. The notion that we should never plan for an exit because our opponents will wait for hundreds or thousands of years is one of the most insane arguments that I could imagine. Are they saying that we could be there for hundreds of years? Are they saying that the President should have some super-secret withdrawal plan, so that the enemy and the American people will be surprised when we leave? This criticism of a withdrawal plan shows a fundamental lapse of thought from a large segment of people. It doesn’t make me laugh or cry, but it is a sad.
Republicans, conservatives, and other opponents of a withdrawal date can use all of nonsensical arguments that they can think-up, but each time that they say that our enemies will wait until we leave, someone must point out that it would be a good thing. It would be a dream scenario for our military to operate, unfettered, for the next 18 months. We need that time to strengthen Afghanistan’s military, police and government, so that when we do leave, Afghanistan can support and protect Afghanistan.
We cannot stay there forever. In July of 2011, we will have been there for nearly 10 years. For most Americans, that is long enough. So, they’ll wait us out? Good.
TarHeelPirate 