The US has been in Afghanistan since 2001. Eight long years and no end in sight. President Obama has been pondering his next move for months now and is expected to announce a decision this week.

There appears to be a total lack of honesty in the public debate.

A brief history: The war, begun under the Bush administration following the September 11 attacks, was aimed at destroying Al-Qaeda. After a strange reluctance by the US to commit full forces at Tora Bora, Osama bin Laden and key followers managed to escape into Pakistan. Shortly thereafter President Bush withdrew special forces and redeployed them to Iraq. The war in Afghanistan was allowed to linger, with limited forces and billions spent on building a supposed democracy in one of the most backward countries on earth.

The lack of commitment allowed the Taliban to regroup and regain control of large portions of the country. US casualties have been increasing in recent months. Quite an amazing feat for the Taliban considering they have no air force, no missiles, no satellites, no tanks, etc. Yet this lack of resources did not prevent Afghan fighters from pushing out invading Soviet forces in the 80’s.

So here we are, running multi-trillion dollar deficits, hugely in debt and President Obama is likely announcing the commitment of additional troops.

Why?

What is the goal? According to Secretary Clinton it is to get rid of Al-Qaeda.

Consider me confused since US Generals have already stated that Al-Qaeda is virtually not present in Afghanistan.

“I want all the foreigners to leave our country” is what one Taliban fighter is quoted in the ABC report below, which gives a good overview of the situation on the ground:

And that is the problem isn’t it? Any time you have foreign troops engaged in a war on your soil resistance will thrive. Kids that were 8-10 years old at the beginning of this war are now of fighting age and have known nothing but foreign troops in their country. Prime recruiting material for the Taliban.

The US had a job to do in 2001, with specific goals and targets. The fact that this engagement has lasted longer than World War II speaks to the failure of the US effort.

Increasing spending for this war now seem preposterous. For one, we can’t afford it. Furthermore, what is the goal, what’s the endgame, how do we measure success? How many lives and dollars are we willing to commit to combat an enemy that has no desire or ability to invade US soil (the Taliban). All questions that should have been asked in 2001, but nobody bothered.

So what is the real motivator here?

Several possible factors to consider:

1. A proposed oil/gas pipeline to be build through Afghanistan to provide direct access to the Indian ocean.
2. Afghanistan is the world’s leading producer of opiates which are also needed for drug manufacturing.
3. US 2010 congressional elections. Democrats tend not to want to look weak on national defense. A retreat in Afghanistan would potentially give Republicans an opening in the upcoming elections.

I suspect those reasons will not be brought up by Obama this week, but rather the usual pablum such as “must finish the job”, “must fight terrorists”, etc..

And so the multi-billion dollar open ended drain continues. Those who voted for change must really be wondering what exactly they voted for….