State of the Union: Why Afghanistan? Part 1 of 2

By Zach Foster

This is the first in a series of responses to the many issues brought up in President Obama’s 2011 State of the Union address.

The President praised our armed forces and the people of Afghanistan and Iraq’s hard work in bringing about greater success in the Middle East.  He credited the armed forces with raising up the Iraqi armed forces, enabling them to take over combat duties against insurgents.  He reminded the American people that this is also our goal for Afghanistan’s armed forces in the war against the Taliban.  Most of Congress applauded this praise of the American, Afghan, and Iraqi armed forces.  After all, what member of Congress would dare not show support for the troops?  Publicly, few or none.  Privately, many of them harbor massive doubts to the morality of the mission in Afghanistan and the likelihood of success.  What doubts these individuals harbor privately, many American citizens voice publicly.

Many ask the question, “Why Afghanistan?”  The immediate response should be “How could you have forgotten?”  After all, unlike the 2003 invasion of Iraq which was loosely at best linked with Al Qaeda, the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan was a direct response.  Most Americans can easily remember what happened in 2001 and mentioning it here would be redundant.  Nonetheless, in 2001, Al Qaeda was very actively involved in operating jihad from within Afghanistan’s borders as well as influencing many of the country’s affairs.

Many would say, “Al Qaeda no longer has a presence in Afghanistan.  We shouldn’t be there anymore!  What does Al Qaeda have to do with the Taliban?”  The answer is: everything.  The Taliban was originally a fraternal organization to Al Qaeda, which openly allowed Al Qaeda to wage jihad from within Afghan borders, as well as occasionally aiding them.  The Taliban represent radical fundamentalist jihadist terror in Afghanistan.  Al Qaeda represents radical fundamentalist jihadist terror throughout the world.  Al Qaeda may be out of Afghanistan, but the Taliban remains a force to be reckoned with.  Furthermore, the two organizations share leadership.  The founder and number one leader of Al Qaeda is Osama Bin Laden, who is also the number two leader of the Taliban.

How did he become a man of two hats?  First, he attained a high position of leadership in the Mujahideen during the Soviet War.  He eventually returned to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, after the three-way phase of the Afghan civil war, to guide Al Qaeda and the Taliban in waging jihad against the West.  He praised the Taliban’s Afghanistan as “the only true Muslim country in the world.”  Then the towers and the Pentagon were attacked.

Part 2: propping Afghanistan and Iraq to be the Middle East’s South Korea, NOT the next South Vietnam