Case Study The Battle For Afghanistan: A Fight Worth Winning?   Instructions: Enter your answers into the boxes below. If you'd like a print-out of your responses, click on the Submit button at the bottom of the page, and you will be taken to a printer-friendly page. If you have been instructed to submit your exercise online, enter both your and your instructor's name and e-mail address, then click the Email button at the bottom of the page. Your answers will be e-mailed immediately.   Who Cares What Happens in Afghanistan? :: The Extent of the Commitment :: A Lost Cause?   The Extent of the Commitment In removing the Taliban, the United States set into motion a series of events that would continue to affect the Afghani people for years to come. The question is how far the United States should be expected to go in following through on the situation it has helped to create. The United States dictated that Afghanistan would no longer be ruled by the Taliban and that a new system of government must be established. This new system was created and elections were set for June 2004. Problems permeated the process from the outset. Free elections were largely unknown in Afghanistan and the structure for electoral activity had to be established. This would be difficult enough under normal circumstances. In Afghanistan it was a nightmare. Islamic extremists loyal to the Taliban bitterly opposed the creation of a new system of government, especially the extension of political rights to women. These extremists engaged in a course of terror that was intended to subvert the Afghani political process. To a great extent, their efforts were successful. So few Afghanis were registered to vote that the elections were postponed from June until September. A renewed effort to register voters began in the spring of 2004. United Nations officials were brought into Afghanistan to coordinate voter registration drives. Unfortunately, the religious extremists intensified their efforts as well. Those who were engaged in the process of voter registration were killed in a number of attacks. One of the most brutal examples of fundamentalist butchery occurred when a bus was hijacked and the sixteen Afghanis who possessed voter registration cards were executed. Taliban spokesmen were not shy about taking credit for these killings or announcing the purpose of the deaths. This violence was intended to send a message to the people of Afghanistan not to become involved in this election. Afghani President Hamid Karzai asked the United States and the key nations in NATO to increase their military presence in Afghanistan to protect the lives of activists and citizens alike, and to ensure the effective functioning of the fledgling democratic process. Karzai characterized greater military involvement on the part of the Western nations as essential to Afghanistan’s success. The question was whether these nations would prove to be able, or willing, to provide this military assistance. Those who questioned the ability of the West to provide the assistance that Karzai requested were not unsympathetic to his claim. Of course everyone wanted to help Afghanistan. However, actions must be tailored to fit political realities. Because of the unexpected difficulty of the campaign in Iraq, the United States military was stretched to its breaking point. Because of the strategic necessity of prevailing in Iraq, the United States was incapable of taking troops from Iraq and sending them to Afghanistan. Unfortunately, difficult decisions must be made in these circumstances and the United States made the decision that military action in Iraq was more important than the military action in Afghanistan. In addition, the American people were extremely disturbed at the number of U.S. soldiers who had been killed in Iraq. It was unlikely that they would be any more accepting of even more deaths of American forces in Afghanistan. Those who supported an increased American presence in Afghanistan argued that the United States must follow through on what it started. The United States ousted the Taliban and pushed the Afghan people to adopt a system including free elections. Afghanis were then killed because they were carrying voter registration cards. This situation would be unacceptable under any circumstances. The fact that the United States sought the situation in which the Afghani people would carry voter registration cards makes it imperative that the U.S. act to protect these people. This perspective views Afghanistan as just as significant as, if not more significant than, Iraq. If a war on terror is to be fought, the proper battleground is Afghanistan, not Iraq. If troops are diverted from Iraq to Afghanistan then that is simply the appropriate redistribution of military force in the battle against terror. Which do you view as more strategically significant: Iraq or Afghanistan? If tough choices must be made, should the United States have devoted more resources to Iraq or to Afghanistan? Is it possible that the nations of Western Europe would be more willing to commit troops to Afghanistan than they were to join the coalition against Iraq? What do you think of the argument that since the United States encouraged Afghanistan to hold elections, it should take steps to ensure that those who participate in the electoral process are as safe as possible? What is your reaction to the news that people are being killed because they want to vote? Do you think nations that have free elections bear a responsibility to help those nations that want to have a free electoral process? If the Afghani people voted in favor of a new Taliban government, should the United States be obligated to honor that decision?     Student Name:* Student Email:*   Professor Name:*   Professor Email:*         *required