The U.S. in Afghanistan: Whatever Happened to Being an Officer and a Gentleman?

Hi everyone!

Disturbing news out of Afghanistan today...it appears that last week's release of video documenting American soldiers urinating on Taliban corpses is not an isolated incident. This is bad in and of itself; however, what is more shocking--though not particularly surprising--is the response this video has apparently generated among many American servicemen, many of whom have cheered the video and have posted supportive (and racist) comments about this incident on various social networking sites.

But this points to a much greater problem, and one that causes me to reconsider the continued presence of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and whether or not we should indeed be negotiating a peace settlement with the Taliban. A lengthy article in today's New York Times details a history of animosity between U.S. soldiers and their Afghan counterparts. It documents various incidents dating back to 2007 that have remained classified, providing more information about a series of attacks on U.S. soldiers by Afghan soldiers who are supposed to be working together to eliminate the insurgent threat.

Official reports claim that these incidents are isolated cases and do not reflect a broader trend of Afghan soldiers killing or otherwise harming members of the American-led International Security Assistance Force. According to an ISAF spokesperson: "We train and are partnered with Afghan personnel every day and we are not seeing any issues or concerns with our relationships."

But classified reports say otherwise. Apparently, there have been at least three dozen attacks on ISAF forces by Afghan soldiers since 2007. From May 2007 to May 2011, this report states that at least 58 ISAF members were killed in 26 separate attacks, the majority of which occurred post-October 2009, comprising 6 percent of all ISAF deaths in this time period.

So what's the impetus behind these attacks? Well, last week's video provides a pretty vivid example. An ever-increasing level of animosity between U.S. and Afghan soldiers is creating a climate that seems to be pushing both sides to extreme behavior. Afghan soldiers accuse their American 'brothers-in-arms' of being rude, ignorant, and disrespectful of their country and Islam. The Americans, on the other hand, accuse the Afghans of being cowardly, undisciplined, and addicted to drugs.

What we have here is a classic example of culture clash, supplemented in no small part by a sense of colonial superiority on the part of the U.S. military. If we haven't been able to resolve these interpersonal/cultural conflicts over the past ten years, chances are we never will. I also don't doubt that there's an overwhelming sense of frustration among ISAF forces, given the fact that after ten years, the Taliban insurgency shows no signs of being vanquished while the Afghan population (and the Karzai government) are expressing fatigue at the continued presence of U.S. and coalition soldiers. Any student of Afghan history can point to the fact that no invading/occupying force has ever been able to successfully control Afghanistan. Why bother?

Which leads me to re-evaluate my previous position against allowing the Taliban to open an office in Qatar from which to launch peace talks. Perhaps, after all, it's time to let Afghanistan (and Pakistan, for that matter, because everyone knows Pakistan holds the winning hand in this part of the world) get on with it. The Karzai administration doesn't want ISAF forces in his country. He's always been a sketchy ally at best and is now claiming that the U.S. is cutting Afghanistan out of negotiations with the Taliban. Karzai does have a point. He says that any deal that isn't headed by the Afghan government is doomed to fail. He's right. So maybe it's time to cut our losses and bring the troops home.

I don't deny that the Taliban is a terrorist organization or that once ISAF pulls out in 2014 Afghanistan won't devolve into a narco-terrorist state as it was from the mid-90s to 2011. But if the majority of Afghans want us out, then it's time to leave. Frankly, though, I don't blame them. Desecrating the dead--regardless of who they might be--is despicable. It serves no purpose other than to confirm (or reconfirm) for many in the world that the U.S. is little more than a nation of ignorant, uncouth rednecks.

Whatever happened to that phrase, "an officer and a gentleman"? If that video and the support for it expressed in social media is any indication, our armed forces are woefully lacking in both.

Ciao.