Jack Segal: Ending the war in Afghanistan

Opinion

February 5, 2012

By Jack Segal, Columnist ---- The Record Eagle Sun Feb 05, 2012, 07:14 AM EST

In November 2010, the president and our allies agreed to continue fighting in Afghanistan through the end of 2014. In a surprise announcement Feb. 1, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters that the United States has now decided to end our combat role by "mid-to-late 2013."

Thereafter, NATO troops will remain in a "training and advisory role" as Afghans take full responsibility for security.

Panetta argued that this does not deviate from what NATO had previously agreed, although we are likely to hear otherwise during the presidential campaign. In fact, Panetta's announcement means that the president has decided that we have done enough to create conditions for the Afghans to defend themselves, and that it is time for us to begin getting our troops out. This decision should be welcomed by all Americans.

By stopping combat patrols sooner and pulling our troops out of the front lines, we will reduce the level of violence in the countryside and remove the major cause of friction between our troops and the Afghans — the presence of our soldiers in their villages.

An Afghan once said to me that whenever NATO troops arrive, something bad happens — a roadside bomb, a firefight, or an airstrike. He said he simply wanted to see the last of the foreign troops in his village.

Handing over responsibility for security to Afghan troops does not ensure that the Afghan people will rally around President Karzai and his all-too-often corrupt friends. Many Afghans may choose to support a local power broker, or even the Taliban.

But this American decision sends a clear signal that the Afghan people now need to get serious about defending their own villages and roads, rooting out the most corrupt among them and taking responsibility for their country. We have been too slow in giving Afghans the lead in this struggle. We would do well to heed the words of T.E. Lawrence: "It is their war, and you are to help them, not to win it for them."

We can help them — by supporting Afghan-led efforts to supply necessities like clean water, health care and food. A still-undefined "enduring relationship" with Afghanistan after 2014 may yet emerge, no doubt carrying with it a multi-billion dollar annual price tag for American taxpayers. But in comparison to the $120 billion per year we are now spending, a commitment of $5 billion to $10 billion per year to help the Afghans sustain their forces and meet their basic needs will look like a bargain.

Many of us attended the memorial services last month for the 51st Michigan hero to sacrifice his life in Afghanistan — Technical Sgt. Matthew Schwartz. His sacrifice will not be diminished by this wise decision to hand over security to the Afghans sooner.

Rather, his memory will be honored by the fact that we have the courage to trust in the long-suffering Afghan people and the wisdom to know when we have done all we can for them.

Jack Segal is a veteran of Vietnam, the Gulf War and Afghanistan and was a director at the National Security Council. From 2002 to 2010, he was senior civilian adviser to the NATO commander responsible for Afghanistan. He is teaching extended education courses at Northwestern Michigan College and lectures at the National Defense University in Washington. He resides with his family in Traverse City.