"Letter to President Obama," column by Dan O'Rourke

| Submitted by admin on November 19, 2009 - 1:29pm.

CPJ member Dan O'Rourke writes a regular column for the Dunkirk Observer.  "Letter to President Obama" was published Thursday November 12, 2009. 

Dear President Obama,
I know you’re getting many recommendations on Afghanistan. Democrats and Republicans, Generals and politicians, liberals and conservatives are giving you advice. I’m about to add mine.
I’m pleased you’re taking your time. This is the biggest decision of your presidency -- and a crucial decision for our country. I was proud to see you at the Dover Air Force Base in the pre-dawn darkness welcoming home the body of Army Sergeant Dale Griffin and at Fort Hoot on Tuesday honoring the fallen there. Please think of them and all who are dying in Afghanistan when the Generals urge you to send more troops.
Pay no attention to former Vice President Cheney who is accusing you of “dithering.”  He has a short and selective memory; you’ll remember that he was greatly responsible for abandoning the war in Afghanistan because of his obsession with Iraq.  As the columnist George Will observed, it’s too bad we didn’t have a little more “dithering” before Cheney and his neo-cons invaded Iraq.
Moreover, don’t let Senator John McCain snooker you with the analogy about the success of the “surge” in Iraq.  That succeeded not only because we sent more troops, but also because the Sunnis were tired of Al Qaeda’s terror against them. We bought Sunni allegiance with money and weapons.  That won’t work in Afghanistan.  Very few Al Qaeda are there and the Taliban, are mostly unified at least against us. The Taliban won’t be bought off like the Sunnis.
Furthermore, don’t be painted into a corner because of your August 2009 statement that Afghanistan was a  “war of necessity.”  Be big enough to admit that mistake.  Circumstances on the ground have deteriorated horribly since last August -- militarily and politically. Afghan’s rigged elections proved that. The international community and the Afghans know President Karzai’s administration is a corrupt narco-state. 
Do we want to commit the lives of our military and billions of dollars to prop up this weak, unrepresentative government?  Since 2001 we’ve spent $223 billion on this war and we’re spending roughly $65 billion every year.  Can we afford that -- and more importantly can we afford deaths like Sergeant Griffin’s? October was the most deadly month for our military since the Afghan war began.  Most Afghans see us as an occupying power and unless we leave they will kill more and more of our military.
Even General Petraeus has called Afghanistan the “graveyard of empires.”  Alexander the Great gave up there so did the British and Russians.  Even with 110,000 troops the Russians, were unsuccessful! What makes us think the United States can succeed where others have failed? Our allies in Afghanistan are growing war weary and we’re getting little NATO support.  All that should make you think five times before sending in more troops.
One of the arguments you are hearing is that if we don’t stabilize Afghanistan, Al Qaeda will return from Pakistan and reconstitute itself there.  Then they will attack the United States again as Bin Laden did from that country on 9-11.  That argument is bogus.  Al Qaeda has moved on from Afghanistan and Pakistan. It’s not localized there.  Like a cancer, it has metastasized -- across the world.
There have been Al Qaeda arrests this year in the United Kingdom, Germany and Denmark -- and here in this country.  Muslim Jihadists are here already. In September the FBI arrested terrorists trying to blow up the Federal Courthouse in Springfield, Illinois, a skyscraper in Dallas, Texas, and Najibullah Zazi who was visiting beauty supply stores in suburban Denver to buy chemicals to make bombs.  Al Qaeda has spread. Its cancerous cells are alive -- alive and active in Massachusetts and Colorado. We don’t need more overextended and weary troops in Afghanistan to keep us safe. We need the FBI and local police in the United States to stop the Jihadists before they carry out their fanatical plots.
General McChrystal has requested more troops to stabilize Afghanistan.  He is bright, disciplined and dedicated. He understands the political situation, but instinctively he sees political realities as calling for military solutions.  We should not be surprised at his request.  Every surgeon reaches for a scalpel when he spots a cancer, but it’s not time for scalpels and troops.  Vice President Biden is wiser.  As former Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he understands the issues involved in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Listen to him.
The analogy with Vietnam has been over drawn, but like Afghanistan, it was an unpopular war -- unpopular internationally and politically at home.  It was also a war in which we supported a weak, unpopular government. General Westmoreland kept requesting more troops for Vietnam, just as General McChrystal is now. Study the Vietnam tragedy; it was an unending quagmire. Spare our nation a repeat of that.
What should you do? Here’s the thumbnail version. Politically, do all you can to help the Afghans, with or without Karzai, to establish a credible government. Internationally, work to get Afghan’s neighbors involved and encourage the world community to support Afghanistan financially to rebuild its nation. Militarily, set a date, as we did in Iraq, to draw down our troops over the next three years.
Easier said than done, of course, but don’t look for consensus among your advisors and give us a half-baked compromise.  You can’t kick this can down the road. Mr. President.  It will eventually detonate costing us even more lives. Instead remember the history of Afghanistan and Vietnam -- and remember Dale Griffin’s flag-draped coffin.
Sincerely,
Daniel O’Rourke  
Dan O’Rourke lives in Cassadaga, NY. His column appears in the Observer, Dunkirk, NY on the second and fourth Thursday each month. A grandfather, Dan is a married Catholic priest. He has published "The Spirit at Your Back," a book of previous columns. To read about the book or send comments on this column visit his website http://www.danielcorourke.com/