U.S. Foreign Policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan So Tragically Wrong
U.S. Secretary of State Tillerson made quick stops (for security reasons) in Kabul, Afghanistan and Islamabad, Pakistan this week as part of the implementation of the Trump Administration’s new South Asia policy that was announced in August.
It’s a policy that is tragically wrong because it is based on false assumptions, incorrect facts, and contains nothing new that hasn’t already been tried in America’s longest war in history. If this is the “new” policy, we Americans can count on remaining in Afghanistan forever.
Secretary Tillerson made a “secret” three-hour stop in Afghanistan where he met with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on the U.S. main military facility at Bagram Airbase just north of Kabul. It was apparently too risky for Tillerson to travel to Kabul city itself to meet the President, and Tillerson’s overall stop in Afghanistan was kept to under three hours to avoid rocket attacks on the U.S. base itself, as was the case when U.S. Secretary of defense visited in September.
During the short press conference that followed his meeting with President Ghani, Secretary Tillerson remarked (with a straight face) that: “Afghanistan has come quite a distance already in terms of creating a much more vibrant population, a much more vibrant government, education system, a larger economy… so there are opportunities to strengthen the foundations of a prosperous Afghanistan society.”
Really?
I have spent ten years in Afghanistan managing failed U.S. nation-building programs. the U.S. has spent more on Afghanistan’s reconstruction than it did on the “Marshal Plan” to rebuild Western Europe after World War II and reconstructing Afghanistan has been the largest expenditure to rebuild a single country in our nation’s history.
The result is Afghanistan continues to be at war as it has been for 40 years (1978-2018), is the second most corrupt country on the planet, produces 90% of the world’s opium, 70% of its population is illiterate, the unemployment rate is 25%, GDP is falling, Afghan civilians and military killed in the conflict is at all-time high, Afghans are the second largest ethnic group migrating to Europe illegally, the Taliban control nearly half the country, and the 2014 Presidential election was so fraught with voter fraud that no one could tell who won the election. The result is an illegitimate government brokered into existence by the U.S., sustained by massive amounts of foreign aid money, and propped up by the occasional drone strike. It appears that there are indeed many, “…opportunities to strengthen the foundations of a prosperous Afghanistan society.” It is a tragedy that we continue to mislead ourselves about what has been accomplished and what is even possible in Afghanistan.
Secretary Tillerson next stopped in Islamabad, Pakistan for a few hours (for security reasons) to meet with the new Pakistani Prime Minister, Abbasi. Like every U.S. Secretary of State since 9/11, Tillerson made the same speech: “Pakistan is so important regionally to our joint goals of providing peace and security to the region and providing opportunity for greater economic relationship", i.e. stop funding and supporting terrorist groups and we will give you more aid money. (The U.S. has given Pakistan $1.1 billion in aid since 2001.) The Prime Minister’s Response was also the same as it has been since 9/11, “The U.S. can rest assured that we are strategic partners in the war against terror...” Of course they are.
The Pakistani military intelligence service (ISI) created the Taliban in 1994. They continue to support, provide safe havens in Pakistan, provide weapons and tactics training, and in some cases actually lead Taliban military operations inside Afghanistan targeted against American soldiers. Regardless of what the civilian politicians in the Pakistani Government (like the Prime Minister) may want or think, Pakistan’s foreign and security policy is firmly controlled by the ISI. The ISI will never stop supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan or other terrorist groups in Kashmir or India as long as the ISI believes these groups serve the larger strategic purpose as “allies” against the inevitable war with India, with whom it has already fought three wars since 1947.
Pakistan is a state supporter of terrorism in South Asia and should be labeled as such. Pakistan gave shelter to Osama Bin Laden for ten years after 9/11 and continues to “host” dozens of terrorist groups, some of which are controlled by the ISI, that conduct cross-border operations in Afghanistan, and Indian Kashmir.
Mr. Tillerson was unfortunately on a “fool’s errand” during his trip to South Asia to implement a failed foreign policy that has not substantially changed since 9/11.