Part front matter for Part III Persisting in a Failing Approach

Extract

Overview

The US government had not developed a clear and coherent strategy for the war in Afghanistan and was having difficulty understanding and adapting to a deteriorating situation. The Taliban’s insurgency, with a sanctuary in Pakistan and growing Afghan support, expanded.¹ As we saw in Part I, the civilian harm caused by pro-government predatory militias and coalition forces contributed significantly to the growth and sustainability of the Taliban. High-profile civilian casualty incidents were driving deep wedges between the US and Afghan governments, undermining the legitimacy of both, and alienating the Afghan population.² The Afghan government, meanwhile, had become a predatory kleptocracy, which was driving more people into the arms of the Taliban.³ America’s bureaucratic way of war unwittingly reinforced rather than diminished these problems. American military and civilian officials, however, continued citing myriad examples of progress even as the security situation deteriorated.⁴

The ineffective strategy remained in place until 2008 when Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. He campaigned that America needed to withdraw from Iraq and focus instead on Afghanistan and made good on this pledge. He directed a thorough review of the Afghan conflict and boosted military, civilian, and diplomatic efforts to reverse a deteriorating situation. To encourage Afghan government reform, Obama put a timeline on American presence. The design was to build Afghan government and security force capacity, gain Pakistani support in closing insurgent sanctuaries, and degrade the Taliban into a residual insurgency. Despite impressive examples of progress, however, the Afghan government and security forces remained corrupt and unable to win the battle of legitimacy in contested and insurgent-controlled areas, Pakistan proved unwilling to close insurgent sanctuaries, and the Taliban sustained high levels of violence. Obama clung stubbornly to the withdrawal timeline as the situation deteriorated. By 2015, he felt compelled to slow and eventually stop the drawdown.

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Part front matter for Part III Persisting in a Failing Approach

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Overview

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Part front matter for Part III Persisting in a Failing Approach

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Overview

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