Obama's War - No Good Way Out of a Complicated Conflict | The Long Crisis

The Afghanistan War is not going well. After nearly nine years of conflict the Taliban are growing stronger and now control as much as 70% of the countryside. The following video, “Obama’s War”, is an on the ground presentation of some of the harsh conditions faced by US Marines in combat operations as well as interviews of Americans, Afghans, and Pakistanis, both military and civilians, looked to for advice by President Obama.

The following is from the excellent PBS coverage of the war and explains some of the difficult and outrageously expensive issues and options that are now on Obama’s plate.
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In Obama’s War, veteran correspondent Martin Smith travels across Afghanistan and Pakistan to see first-hand how the president’s new strategy is taking shape, delivering vivid, on-the-ground reporting from this eight-year-old war’s many fronts. Through interviews with top generals, diplomats and government officials, Smith also reports the internal debates over President Obama’s grand attempt to combat terrorism at its roots.

“What we found on the ground was a huge exercise in nation building,” says Smith. “The concept’s become a bit of a dirty word, but that’s what this is. We started with the goal of eliminating Al Qaeda, and now we’ve wound up with the immense task of re-engineering two nations.”
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I warn you. After watching the video it is hard to see for the United States any good way out of a highly complicated conflict involving Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Taliban, al-Qaeda, NATO, and US interests in the region. Whatever action decided upon by President Obama is sure to unleash a round of protest and criticism that will endanger Obama’s opportunity for a second term in office.

Nation building under the best of circumstances is a difficult task. If even a lite version of nation building in Afghanistan, one of the poorest, most backward, and tribal nations on earth, is one of the US’s objectives in “winning” the war the task will be almost impossible to complete in any of our lifetimes, if ever.

Then there is the unpleasant fact that even if we do somehow prevail by defeating the Taliban and denying access to al-Qaeda of operating bases in Afghanistan there is even a greater problem with al-Qaeda and an extreme Islamic fundamentalist movement in Pakistan. With anti American sentiment already running high in Pakistan, a nation of about 180,000,000 citizens, any American boots on the ground campaign in Pakistan would be complete madness and could escalate out of control with dire consequences.

For the United States and President Obama I fear that there really is no good way out of a complicated conflict. Watch the video and then see how you feel.