Droning On: American Foreign Policy

The American Society of Civil Engineers estimated in 2008 that the cost of rebuilding decayed American infrastructure would total roughly $1.6 trillion. The estimated cost of ignoring our own infrastructure is in excess of $4 trillion, plus millions of lost jobs. This cost will increase exponentially as time passes, and will eclipse the cost of the war in Afghanistan well before 2025. In fact, the price tag of American involvement in Afghanistan has a strong connection to the deterioration of our roads and bridges.

Since the year I was born, American troops have been stationed in Afghanistan. The U.S. has poured more than two trillion dollars into that effort; the interest alone paid on its debt exceeds $450 billion. In spite of this massive sum, more than 1,000 terrorist attacks occur there every year, and that number is not declining. Money that could alleviate the opioid crisis, rebuild American infrastructure, or improve education for American children is being spent on a conflict whose end is still not in sight.

American image abroad has also been hurt by this conflict, especially when accidents occur, such as the bombing of an Afghani wedding costing several dozen lives. Drone strikes have improved in their precision, but errors do arise. Media profits from shocking stories; the corpse of one child gets more attention than a thousand children who are saved. The overwhelming majority of other countries believe that the United States should pull out. More locally, Pew found that nearly two-thirds of Americans and U.S. veterans say that the war in Afghanistan was not worth fighting.

Additionally, the U.S. has lost thousands of servicemen and women to the fighting, including two soldiers just last month who were blown apart by an IED. The death of soldiers in Afghanistan is actually used as an argument to remain there, while the number of fatalities and crippling injuries continues to climb for future arguments.

There are still strong arguments to support a continued presence in Afghanistan. Firstly, the supermajority of Afghans support the U.S. presence, and most of the country hates the Taliban, blaming it for the violence and destruction. At the end of the day, the opinion of zombies in Europe is utterly worthless next to the opinion of the local Afghans with respect to American job performance. If anything, the discrepancy is a condemnation of a deeply biased and broken media system.

Furthermore, the U.S. has established many local friends who could be jeopardized by a total withdrawal. The Taliban might be on the periphery now, but that could change within a few short years.  The argument that America should not withdraw simply because it has already lost troops is a thoroughly broken case. However, the position that a withdrawal could allow for a terrorist resurgence is valid, because the potential loss of life could be even higher in the long run.

Finally, while violence might remain rampant, the political situation has improved. The country is moving towards democracy and taking a harder stance against the production of opium. If progress continues, the country may be able to support itself in the somewhat near future without serious U.S. intervention.

There are essentially four positions to Afghanistan: increase presence, maintain presence, decrease presence, or end presence. Few believe that an increase would yield a positive result, and most are unhappy with the current situation. A total, sudden withdrawal could undo all of the progress that has been made with government reform, and would truly render the sacrifice of fallen veterans in vain. This experiment has run on nearly as long as the lifespan of this author, and yet the violence is still rampant.

Clearly, the current practices are not working, at least not enough to justify the cost. It is both possible and necessary to make a more permanent transition by attacking the root of the problem. More drone strikes will not fundamentally change Afghanistan. Education will. By supporting a better educational system and improving job prospects for the country, Americans can support Afghanistan’s fledgling representative government and allow it to stand on its own two feet. If the people truly do favor the government over the Taliban by a 90/4 margin, then providing advisers, education, and adequate weaponry will enable the Afghani people to handle their issues, and let the American people focus on our own.