Remember the White House party crashers? Well, here’s a video that puts a whole new twist on how they should be regarded:
After 8 years of combat in Afghanistan, American military commanders are suddenly relying on an old and disproved strategy: win the hearts and minds of the people. We are going to do this by avoiding civilian casualties, no easy task when the enemy goes to great lengths to look exactly like non-combatants. Nevertheless, Afghan President Karzai raised the bar to dizzying heights just this week. According to the Associated Press, Karzai pleaded, “We need to reach the point where there are no civilian casualties.” That would certainly be a first.
Actually, we’ve come a long way since the bad old days of World War II. Millions of civilians paid the ultimate price in that conflict, more than a few on the receiving end of American munitions. It’s not that Allied forces didn’t try to avoid killing civilians, but they also had a larger goal in mind: winning the war. The only way to reduce non-combatant casualties to zero is to stop fighting, period. Of course, a necessary corollary to calling it quits is racking up another American defeat.
Which brings us to Vietnam. Winning hearts and minds is a phrase that sends chills down the spines of those of us who remember the Vietnam War. With more than 500,000 troops in country at the apex of that conflict, we thrashed about like an elephant in a sea of mice. The result, of course, was that we killed tens of thousands of civilians. Interestingly, that’s not what lost the battle for civilian support. After all, the NVA and Vietcong killed far more civilians than we did. So, why did most civilians side with our enemy? The simple answer is that every Vietnamese knew we wouldn’t be there forever. And when we left, they’d have to deal with the victors. Self-preservation made the choice easy.
Our soldiers and Marines fighting in Afghanistan have new rules of engagement: they can’t shoot the enemy unless he is seen actually holding a rifle. Taliban fighters know this, of course, and are using it to great advantage. However, no matter how careful we are, Afghan civilians will secretly or openly side with our enemy because they know American forces will begin pulling out in a year or two. Our President said so. So, we’ll clear a few towns and kill a bunch of Taliban and a few civilians, and then leave Afghanistan pretty much the way we found it.
What a waste. If we don’t have the stomach to do what it takes to win in Afghanistan, then we shouldn’t spend another life or dollar trying to do the impossible. War is hell. If we can’t accept that we should bring the troops home now.
Posted by Jerry Pomeroy in Military, Obama Presidency, War on Terror