[Peace-discuss] Afghanistan: The Four Questions

[C. G. Estabrook]

Suppose a Russian political commentator wrote as follows 25 years ago, while the 
USSR was occupying Afghanistan:

   "1. Will the USSR support political negotiations between the Afghan 
government and leaders of Afghanistan's insurgencies?

   "2. Is the USSR prepared to discuss its long-term intentions in Afghanistan?

   "3. Is the USSR prepared to relax the political constraints it has previously 
imposed on Afghan negotiations?

   "4. Is the USSR prepared to address the political roots of Saudi Arabia's 
relationship with the Afghan insurgencies?"

If the Russian commentator held that "What finally matters are the answers to 
these four questions, which are only now beginning to be asked" -- and implied 
as it seems that the answer to each should be "yes" -- I would say that he was 
attempting to design a more thoughtful, circumspect, and therefore successful 
occupation.

But the occupation should be rejected, then and now. The Afghan people and 
people around the world should have demanded the end to the occupation and a 
Russian withdrawal -- and similarly today.  --CGE


Robert Naiman wrote:
> President Obama is expected to "announce" his "new" Afghanistan strategy
> Friday - the traditional Washington day for burying things. ... It is widely
> recognized that sending more people - whether soldiers or civilians - is very
> unlikely in itself to change anything fundamental, because the order of
> magnitude is wrong. The United States has not been, is not, and almost
> certainly never will be willing and able to commit the resources which would
> be necessary to transform Afghanistan into a peaceful "democracy" according
> to the present policy. The most that could be plausibly hoped for is that
> additional resources would help make a new policy work: a new policy based on
> a fundamental, political shift in US policy, including accommodation with the
> bulk of the political forces now backing Afghanistan's various insurgencies. 
> ... What finally matters are the answers to four questions that are only now
> beginning to be asked.
> 
> 1. Will the United States support political negotiations between the Afghan
> government and leaders of Afghanistan's insurgencies? ... 2. Is the United
> States prepared to discuss its long-term intentions in Afghanistan? ... 3. Is
> the United States prepared to relax the political constraints it has
> previously imposed on Afghan negotiations? ... 4. Is the United States
> prepared to address the political roots of Pakistan's relationship with the
> Afghan insurgencies?
> 
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/afghanistan-the-four-ques_b_179630.html
> 
> 
> http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/3/26/143616/654
> 
> -- Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org 
> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org _______________________________________________ 
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