The Sooner The US and Satraps Exit The Better

First, there is no military solution to Afghan political problems, many of which don’t even originate in Afghanistan. In fact, efforts to pacify the Afghan insurgency by force have only backfired. The security situation in Afghanistan today is worse than it was before the surge in 2009. A failure to achieve a negotiated political settlement with regional stakeholders will almost certainly mean a fourth decade of war in Afghanistan — fomenting the same conditions which led to the rise of Al Qaeda in that country. For 12 years, the US has given military solutions every chance to work. It is clear these efforts have failed. Inclusive political negotiations are extremely difficult in the best of conditions. As violence grows, any efforts are very unlikely to bear fruit without first securing a ceasefire between international and Afghan forces and the insurgency. Second, no regional agreement can be reached without Pakistan. It is true that one of the biggest challenges to stability in Afghanistan comes from outside its borders. The Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, target of most of the 368 US drones strikes in Pakistan, has become a heavily militarized insurgent haven. The insurgency causes great instability, but is not the only undercurrent that matters regarding political violence in the FATA, in other areas of Pakistan or in Afghanistan. MORE