Final Readings

In the final readings of the year, we see how complicated it is to get out of wars because on one hand, our country has been at war for 17 years, on the other, if you completely pull out prematurely, you run the risk of allowing the very groups you went in to destroy to come back and take power if you don’t set up the right system to combat any and all threats. Both President Obama and President Trump had given up on timeline based withdrawals because withdrawing is not a matter of just pulling soldiers out, it is a matter of pulling them out without having to go back in any time soon. While working on my research paper, I have found out that we still have 9,000+ troops still in Afghanistan, and an extra 1,000+ PSCs, thus making a force of just 10,000+ troops in control, or proxy-control, of an entire country. Regardless of the number of troops left in country, even if the US pulls out, it will still be costly. Billions of dollars will be funneled to Afghanistan in order to make sure the ANSF has enough equipment and resources in order to sustain and maintain the country. Furthermore, the complexity of withdrawing is a result of two different cultures and the needs and wants of both of those cultures. For example, Afghans  receiving control of their country were mostly concerned about money and funding while the Coalitions, being made up of many different countries have many different wants that want to come out of the transition. And while President Trump and his advisors have turned back to previous strategies, there seems like there is little to be done due to all the complexity surrounding the withdrawal. However, “a host-nation government that proves unable to retake and retain insurgent-controlled or contested territory (that is, to win the battle of legitimacy) has lost every time since the Second World War.” And if this is true, then as of right now, the ANSF does not possess the proper equipment and resources to take over insurgent controlled territory and to retain it. Furthermore, “the Afghan Taliban has indigenous support in Afghanistan and external sanctuary in Pakistan. This enables it to control roughly 10% of the 400 districts in Afghanistan and contest nearly 30% more.”, thus making it much harder for the ANSF to keep the Taliban out of country