Blog 9—
In terms of our perception of our own security, there is something inherently comforting about knowing that our troops are off somewhere fighting a bad guy. This is our natural reaction to foreign intervention before we logically assess the impact of waging a war in a country halfway across the globe. Another way to conceptualize the affect of the war in Afghanistan on our security is that it really has no impact. The Taliban isn’t about to invade the United States, they don’t have a stockpile of nuclear weapons for the sole purpose of destroying western ideals and democracy. So why do we care?
In the Krebs article he makes the case that the War on Terror is a rhetorically formulated idea that allows the U.S. to intervene in places like Iraq and Afghanistan under the guise of subverting terrorist operations that are threatening America. In reality, Afghanistan may be harboring Osama bin Laden, but how important is that to our security? Not very. Having thousands of troops deployed in the Middle East does very little to prevent a terrorist attack on the United States, and is hard pressed to have any sizable impact on stemming the growth of existing terrorist organizations.
The primary result of indefinite engagement in the Middle East is the utter waste of American capital and resources. When Mayor Giuliani spoke during parents weekend he attempted to make the point that war was stimulating to the economy. Well welcome to the 21st century Mayor, because war no longer creates millions of jobs in weapon production because it doesn’t take 10,000 tanks to fight Al Qaeda; one might even be too many. War simply saps the strength of our nation, as illustrated beautifully in Diplomatic Risk when armies were removed for active wars. If there were any way to categorize the war in Afghanistan as it relates to our security, it would be dangerous. It is harmful to our economy, which according to our President is an integral factor to our stability and security as a nation. The former administration got us all wrapped up in warfare, which ended up threatening our sovereignty rather than strengthening it as was hopefully intended.
I agree with your point that the war seems to be taking up valuable resources that could be spent on other security measures (or other American endeavors). Not only is the presence of troops in Afghanistan creating a false sense of security for many U.S. citizens, it is also hurting us economically while leading to countless unnecessary deaths. Statistically, the chances that our troops in the Middle East will actually prevent a terrorist attack on the United States are very slim. At the same time, the resources and time spent on this pointless war are drawing away from other security measures that could be taken.
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