The last time I read about an offensive, it was in a rather boring article about hockey. Truly, as Fordham’s Spring Weekend comes to a close, launching an offensive seems much more descriptive of the intramural softball game I have tonight than of a deadly ban of insurgents.
Yet, the Taliban has an offensive season as well, and as it launches its newest one, world leaders are cringing while still attempting to prevent a major a loss of life.
As of Sunday, May 1, the Taliban had already killed 11 people across Afghanistan. While both sides have promised to keep civilians out of the conflict, the U.N.’s chief of staff in Afghanistan has admitted that it is struggling to make sure that civilians are not affected by the strife between the militant group and the government.
The Taliban has further added a tragic new element to its operations, as it has introduced children bombers; on Sunday, a 12-year-old boy killed four civilians and injured another 12 in a suicide bombing. Also disturbing, while military leaders have been worried about increased violence with the start of spring for awhile, there was not the usual lull over the winter, meaning that the violence has overall escalated. Furthermore, as officials are preparing for the gradual withdrawing of troops, they are worrying about how to keep the violence at bay.
In fact, the Obama administration is still uncertain as to how many troops will be coming home in July; according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, General David Petraeus, who commands the troops in Afghanistan, has not yet offered his recommendations.
Photo Courtesy of NDU Audio Visua
General Petraeus is still deciding how many U.S. troops to pull out of Afghanistan in July.
While The Washington Post and ABC News conducted a poll which displayed that more Americans disprove rather than approve of Obama’s handling of the war in Afghanistan (including his injection of another 30,00 troops into the country), this offensive, as well as a massive prison break that released almost 500 prisoners on April 25 including Taliban fighters, show that Obama has his hands full in determining how to proceed.
Photo Courtesy of isafmedia
Children talking with the military in Kandahar, where almost 500 inmates recently broke out of a prison.
On one level, the United States got its self into this mess and should clean it up. On another, at some point the military has to cut its losses and admit that it is, still, a separate country and it does need to stand on its own two legs. On yet another, if this is not a humanitarian crisis, the United States needs to prioritize and decide why it is still involved, while if it is such a crisis, other countries may want to join in to aid citizens. Finally, there is the question of how much of this escalation of violence the United States caused in the first place.
Eventually, the United States does need to leave, but it is truly heart-wrenching to watch this country be plagued with such disturbing violence. Not having any semblance of knowledge on military tactics, I cannot try to discuss when the best time to pull out would be, or if an American presence would deter the Taliban (though, given that they certainly want us to leave and thus troops are one of their targets, our leaving could statistically reduce violence).
The part of me that is horrified that a 12-year-old boy killed himself and four others wants the United States to stay and end the violence once and for all; the practical side of me that wants Afghanistan to stand up and thrive through its own institutions and actions wants the United States to pull out and give them their opportunity. In this case, where I am so conflicted and so uncertain that I suppose I have to trust Petraeus and hope for the best.
Still, I wish the Afghanis as beautiful and carefree a spring as Fordham is lucky enough to currently be seeing.
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