Afghanistan

Conservatives like to complain that the media insists on covering on the bad news in Iraq (like car bombs blowing up dozens of people) while ignoring the good news (a fresh coat of paint on a school!). Well, given what news we get about metatrends in Iraq (for example, we’re still well behind our planned schedule for restoring electricity), this may be appropriate. But even if we were to acknowledge this point, it would be rather hard to argue with the assertion that the media is doing the Bush administration a huge favor by not covering ongoing events in Afganistan. The troop and resource demands of Iraq have left Afganistan a largely dangerous and lawless place. Doctors without Borders, a international humanitarian organization providing desperately needed medical care in many of the world’s most dangerous places, has been doing valuable and necessary work in Afganistan for 24 years. Those a tough couple of decades–civil strife galore, the mujahaaden, the Soviets, the near- total civil war/anarchy of the early 90’s, and the oppressive rule of the Taliban.

But now, in 2004, it has become too dangerous for them to do their work, and they’re leaving. This is in no small part a consequence of the ambush and murder of 5 DWB workers about two months ago. How did the government respond?

Although government officials have presented MSF with credible evidence that local commanders conducted the attack, they have neither detained nor publicly called for their arrest. The lack of government response to the killings represents a failure of responsibility and an inadequate commitment to the safety of aid workers on its soil. In addition, following the assassinations, a Taliban spokesperson claimed responsibility for the murders and stated later that organizations like MSF work for American interests, are therefore targets, and would be at risk of further attacks.

My hunch is that Karzai would really like aid workers to stay, and he’d like to protect them, and he’d like to go after the Taliban (yes, that Taliban) thugs who did this. The only reason he wouldn’t is that his grasp on power is weak, and he knows it. We’ve deposed a government and installed another one, but we haven’t given them the resources or ability to effectively combat the power we diposed.

In addition to leaving the Afganis in a horrible position, we’ve significantly damaged our own security here. To state the obvious, the Taliban and Afganistan had a direct link to Al Qaeda, while Iraq and Hussein didn’t. Their power in Afganistan appears to be rising, and the government controls very little actual territory. It’s unclear that Afganistan is any less a haven for terrorists now than it was in 2001.

I thought the rationale for the war with Afganistan was strong, and while I had serious reservations, I tentatively supported it. Yet with respect to Iraq, I had no patience for those who couldn’t see that even if this was a good idea, Bush would be too incompetent to pull it off. I need to listen to my own advice.
Anyone who says Bush is strong on security is either in the tank or not paying attention. Kerry’s slogan “For a Stronger America” is the equivalent of an excellent Italian restaurant adopting the slogan “Tastier than Arby’s.”

via Brian Leiter.