PHOTO: US ARMY

Following the attacks on the United States on 9/11/2001, the United States began its global war against terrorism. This new conflict immediately began in Afghanistan and has since became a fixture of the nation’s existence for the past 18 years. While the United States has been involved in the nation’s seemingly unending conflict with the Taliban, the front lines and territorial markers have shifted like the sands of a desert repeatedly. As a result of this undefined conflict persisting, the debate on what the appropriate course of action is in Afghanistan has taken center stage within American foreign policy.  Additionally, involvement in Iraq and Syria have also been up for fierce debate.  President Donald Trump’s sudden announcement of plans to reduce troop numbers in both countries or to even pull out all together has further intensified this debate.

To understand why the United States continues to involve itself in a nearly 2 decade old war in Afghanistan and a seemingly endless civil war we must first understand the international affairs surrounding both nations.  In Afghanistan, the U.S. military is fighting an ideological enemy in the form of the Taliban. The goal of this fight is loosely defined as a fight to prevent a future 9/11 like attack on the United States. Part of this mission is attempting to ensure a stable democratic Afghanistan. Unfortunately for Afghanistan this goal has been far from attained. Despite military success, the Taliban has consistently proven its ability to rebound and mount insurgent warfare throughout the country. This fact has left the United States in an uncomfortable position as the continued presence of U.S. troops is to protect Afghani democracy and to prevent the Taliban from gaining enough power to plot against America. Despite this, there seems to be no long term solution to defeating the Taliban or ensuring a democracy in the country. Thus, America must decide to either pull out and accept a Vietnam-like failure or to continue in what may be a never-ending cycle. On one side many argue that America has an obligation to the Afghani people to ensure democracy and needs to continue to suppress terrorists so they cannot strike America. As said by Lt. Gen. Scott Miller, “There is a threat from this region to our homeland. So our choice is fairly simple: We either keep the pressure on them here, or they bring the fight to our doorstep.” Despite these arguments many on the other side continue to claim the war is already lost and America is unwilling to admit it. This debate continues to rage on while the war continues to cost billions of dollars. As a result of the continued money spent, President Trump has ordered many troops to pull out of the nation in a move to reduce involvement in the country and perhaps pull out all together.

While the war in Afghanistan has its own unique debates surrounding it, the current conflict in Syria is a far more complex and polarizing engagement for the United States. This complexity is due to the nature of the conflict as a proxy war between numerous nations. In fact, Syria has become a proxy war between Russia, The U.S., Israel, Iran, and Turkey. It is these political conflicts that have kept fueling the civil war in Syria. What began as an anti-government revolution has now ballooned into a globally relevant, high-stakes war.

Agencja Gazeta/Reuters

While the civil war in Syria was originally debated because America was unsure of who to support, the debate has only intensified as multiple new players have entered the nation while the U.S. now appear non-committal to its involvement. The original objective of the U.S. military was to rid Syria of ISIS (an enemy of the Assad regime). However, when many other adversarial nations began to join in on defeating ISIS, the lines began to blur within the conflict. Russia began to attack ISIS, but also appeared hostile to the U.S. and backed the Assad government. Similarly Iran attacked ISIS, but brought troops to the nation. This action was seen as a grab for influence by Israel who also allied the United States in the fight against ISIS. Another actor in the conflict, Turkey, began its involvement in the region to fight ISIS, but also was worried about the growing influence of the U.S. backed Kurds (a minority group in both Syria and Turkey). Turkey began to fight against the Kurds as they are an enemy of the nation. Meanwhile, the backing of the Kurds by the U.S. continues to be a sticking point in diplomacy between the U.S. and Turkey. Thus, the conflict in Syria has sucked in many historical rivals and pitted them against each other (U.S. vs Russia, Iran vs. Israel, Turkey vs. Kurds) in what has become a major proxy war today. However, this complex power struggle became even more uncertain as President Trump announced plans to pull out of Syria. This development would leave the Assad totalitarian regime in charge, allow for the Kurds to be targeted by the Turks, allow Iran to expand influence, and increase the probability anti-western groups take hold of government in Syria. Despite an already rocky relationship President Trump claims that pulling out in Syria is conditional upon Turkey’s protection of the Kurds and the complete destruction of ISIS.  Realistically, neither of these goals seems completely possible in the immediate future as the Kurds are a mortal enemy of the Turks and ISIS is an ideological enemy that can rebuild quickly. Thus, a complex situation remains so and a stand-off in a international chess match appears to be setup. All the while, fierce debate over the need for U.S. involvement in the nation remains a topic of contention.