When you’re in a hole, stop digging!
The headline on yesterday’s New York Times story on Afghanistan struck me as odd. It was "Setbacks Cloud U.S. Plans to Get Out of Afghanistan." The story itself is solid reporting but the headline has it exactly backwards: the setbacks we have experienced recently actually clarify the need to get out. The thrust of the ...
The headline on yesterday's New York Times story on Afghanistan struck me as odd. It was "Setbacks Cloud U.S. Plans to Get Out of Afghanistan." The story itself is solid reporting but the headline has it exactly backwards: the setbacks we have experienced recently actually clarify the need to get out.
The headline on yesterday’s New York Times story on Afghanistan struck me as odd. It was "Setbacks Cloud U.S. Plans to Get Out of Afghanistan." The story itself is solid reporting but the headline has it exactly backwards: the setbacks we have experienced recently actually clarify the need to get out.
The thrust of the story was straightforward: the war is not going well, which means that Obama won’t be able to "declare victory" next spring and start withdrawing troops next summer. That’s what he said he’d do when he sent them in, but nobody should have believed that we could turn things around that fast.
The harsh truth, as some of us tried to warn him last fall, is that the decision to escalate in Afghanistan was a mistake. Our involvement there is a fool’s errand that is rife with strategic contradictions, which is why we keep having "setbacks." The proper lesson to draw is not that it will be harder to get out; the proper message is that the sooner we do, the better.
Stephen M. Walt is a columnist at Foreign Policy and the Robert and Renée Belfer professor of international relations at Harvard University. Twitter: @stephenwalt
More from Foreign Policy
A New Multilateralism
How the United States can rejuvenate the global institutions it created.
America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want
Embedded with U.S. forces in the Pacific, I saw the dilemmas of deterrence firsthand.
The Endless Frustration of Chinese Diplomacy
Beijing’s representatives are always scared they could be the next to vanish.
The End of America’s Middle East
The region’s four major countries have all forfeited Washington’s trust.
Sign up for World Brief
FP’s flagship evening newsletter guiding you through the most important world stories of the day. Delivered weekdays.
By submitting your email, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.