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Hillarysworld -> All things Hillary -> Can Hillary Clinton win the war in Afghanistan (Examiner 12/01/09)
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TOPIC: Can Hillary Clinton win the war in Afghanistan (Examiner 12/01/09)
Jen the Michigander


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Can Hillary Clinton win the war in Afghanistan (Examiner 12/01/09)
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A pro-Hillary article!

http://www.examiner.com/x-31406-Hillary-Clinton-Examiner~y2009m11d30-Can-Hillary-Clinton-win-the-war-in-Afghanistan

After months of speculation that Sec. of State Hillary Clinton has been "marginalized" by the Obama administration, and questions about her prominence (or lack of it) with the president's inner circle, it seems the Secretary has risen above the gossip and diffused the rumors. As is appropriate for the United States chief diplomat, and key presidential adviser, Secretary Clinton has taken full ownership of US policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan. The idea that she has not been the president's point person on "just about everything" (as VP Joe Biden described it, amicably) is erroneous; however, with the sudden and critical confidence with which Afghan president Hamid Karzai has embraced Clinton, there can be no doubt now that the Secretary is the premier US official supervising the anti-terrorist campaign in Central Asia, and which has global correspondences stemming from the Middle East.

In her opening remarks, Secretary Clinton wasted no time getting to the point, saying, "Thanks to the efforts of the international community, the perpetrators of the horrific terrorist attacks of 9/11 – attacks which killed citizens from more than 90 countries – were driven from Afghanistan, and the Afghan people made a promising start toward a more secure future. But since those first hopeful moments, our collective inability to implement a clear and sustained strategy has allowed violent extremists to regain a foothold in Afghanistan and in Pakistan, and to make the area a nerve center for efforts to spread violence from London to Mumbai... The plan I outline today is the product of intensive consultations with nations that have donated troops and support; Afghanistan’s neighbors and international institutions that play a vital role in Afghanistan’s future. The results of these consultations are clear: Our strategy must address the challenge in Afghanistan and Pakistan; it must integrate military and civilian activities and support them with vigorous international diplomacy; and it must rest on the simple premise that while we can and will help, Afghanistan’s future ultimately rests with the Afghan people and their elected government. Security is the essential first step; without it, all else fails. Afghanistan’s army and police will have to take the lead, supported by the International Security Assistance Force."

Secretary Clinton also outlined the framework by which the US and Afghanistan could reach out to non-extremist factions of the Taliban, to bring them back into the Afghan government, and gain their support and assistance against al-Qaeda. In her opening remarks at the Hague conference she said, "We must also support efforts by the Government of Afghanistan to separate the extremists of al-Qaeda and the Taliban from those who joined their ranks not out of conviction, but out of desperation. This is, in fact, the case for a majority of those fighting with the Taliban. They should be offered an honorable form of reconciliation and reintegration into a peaceful society if they are willing to abandon violence, break with al-Qaida, and support the constitution." And later, at the press availability Q&A she expanded further, after a reporter asked her if opening talks with the Taliban was not just another form of "negotiationg with terrorists." Sec. Clinton said, "No, it isn’t. I mean, what I said is the policy of the Government of Afghanistan and a recognition by a number of nations that the Taliban consists of a hard-core of committed extremists with whom there is not likely to be any chance of any kind of reconciliation or reintegration. But it is our best estimate that the vast majority of Taliban fighters and members are people who are not committed to a cause so much as acting out of desperation. And therefore, an offer of not only reconciliation, but a chance for them to be reintegrated into Afghan society, to perhaps have employment, to get help with their property in terms of preparing it for agricultural production, we think that there are a number of people who are currently in the Taliban who would accept such an offer. Now, it has to be proven that they are willing to walk away from the Taliban. We did see quite a bit of this in Iraq, where people who had taken up arms against the United States and against the coalition and against the elected Iraqi Government decided to walk away from their involvement in return for the position in society and a job that was offered to them. And I think that this is very likely the course that we can take with respect to members of the Taliban, too."

Both of these issues, inclusion of Pakistan and reaching out to the Taliban, are just now gaining popular attention, but they have been in the works since the onset of the Obama administration, with Secretary Clinton guiding the policies involved. The Secretary has been building important coalitions to support the Af-Pak anti-terror campaigns, making diplomatic overtures to every international government that could support or assist, and attempting to counter intense anti-US sentiments, particularly in Pakistan, where the United States is largely seen as the cause of the problem, not the savior. At the urging of the president, Clinton has opened overtures to Iran, spent countless hours on the phone and in closed door meetings with her Russian counterparts, spent weeks traveling and speaking all over Asia, even softening her rhetoric on North Korea in an attempt to smooth over nuclear negotiations, and recently took the reigns on resolving old tensions between Pakistan and India. These frameworks and partnerships take time and "vigorous diplomacy," as Secretary Clinton has described it many times. And not everyone is on the same page.

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Alex


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For me, the question is:  Is the war in Afghanistan "winnable"?

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Hillarysmygirl16


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Excellent article and yes Afghanistan is winnable.  Bush's big mistake was that he jumped into Iraq before he was done in Afghanistan.   I actually agree with the decision to send more troops there we did not finish the job when we should have.

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Jen the Michigander


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I'm not sure if the war is winnable or not, because we haven't really tried to win it. Bush dithered for seven years and Obama has been dithering for nearly one year. I would feel more confident about winning the war if Hillary or McCain were POTUS.

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