Getting Afghanistan Right

So it's official. President Obama yesterday announced plans to send 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan. The "undebated war," often referred to as the "good war," is about to get its very own "surge." This is nothing new from Obama. Throughout his campaign, he has long used Afghanistan and the surrounding region as his "look-and-talk-tough" Democratic issue, hoping to counter his more hawkish rivals. Many, including myself, disagreed heavily with this stance, but kept quiet (mostly) about it. That is, we voiced our disapproval but didn't make it a massive issue. Now it's reckoning day. And there's a sinking feeling as we watch a would-be progressive President try to subjugate a region that has left other would-be empires broken and scattered in its deserts. As if eight years isn't enough; as if US and NATO airstrikes haven't alienated the populace; as if a corrupt propped up government in Kabul hasn't helped Taliban recruiting efforts even more, we want to throw another 17,000 troops and a few billion dollars at it.

Attempting to form a constructive stance on the issue, writers and bloggers including Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films, Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation, Alex Thurston and Jason Rosenbaum of The Seminal, and Howie Klein of DownWithTyranny, has put together a project termed "GetAfghanistanRight" whose purpose is to both talk directly to President Obama and inform the larger public.

More after the fold.



We oppose military escalation in Afghanistan and support non-military solutions to the conflict.

Get Afghanistan Right