I am not a fan of nation building. But after we spent 20 years in Afghanistan doing just that, I wonder what kind of moral obligation, if any, we and NATO had to finish the job. It’s a hard question, but here are some facts to consider.
Some reports have estimated that a force of 4,500 American troops supplemented by 7,000 NATO troops would have been sufficient to maintain stability. By comparison, we maintain 35,000 troops in Germany, 12,500 in Italy and 54,000 in Japan more than 75 years after that war ended. We maintain 28,000 in South Korea to keep that country safe and have done so for over 70 years.
OK, those countries are not at war, but U.S. casualties in Afghanistan in all of 2020 were 11 killed compared to 13 killed during the evacuation. More troops are killed in accidents than in warfare.
NATO is made up of 30 countries. Couldn’t those 30 countries have been asked to pick up a fairer share of the burden? Doesn’t Europe have a bigger stake in a stable Afghanistan than we do? Couldn’t Afghanistan have been partitioned similar to how West Germany was partitioned after World War II and responsibility given to France, Britain, other NATO countries and the U.S. to provide stability within their assigned areas?
As much as I wanted to see us leave, perhaps sometimes morality and logic dictate unpopular decisions.
Edward Pencoske
Trafford