Our dual wars are easy to forget, even for a veteran like me. It is important that we remember them. Daily events in Afghanistan and Iraq are going to have ramifications in the United States for decades to come. Robert D. Kaplan speculates on Obama’s inherited conflicts:
He’s already made a good start in Iraq. By appointing centrist pragmatists like Marine Gen. (Ret.) James Jones and Sen. Hillary Clinton to top national security positions, and reappointing Defense Secretary Robert Gates, he has sent a message in the face of an uptick in violence in Iraq that his administration will not be rushing for the exits there, so as not to risk a disintegration of the country. Indeed, Obama’s strategy in Iraq will likely be defined by “no risks,” so that if Iraq founders, the blame will be laid on the previous administration.
The situation in Afghanistan is different. There, Obama will need to take some immediate decisions his first weeks or even days in office. We are involved in a counterinsurgency that it appears we are losing. The Taliban has a credible presence in most parts of the country and the additional troops we deploy there may have to go to Kabul to defend the capital itself from enemy attack. That’s how bad the situation is.
First of all, anyone who calls Hillary Clinton a centrist is not to be trusted. If Hillary Clinton is a centrist then I am the Pope. I know nothing about retired general James Jones.
I don’t know much about the ground climate in Baghdad these days, although I would guess that mortars are probably still a daily occurence in the green zone. Whatever Obama is planning for Iraq and Afghanistan, he needs to cut the fat and focus on something that is easier said than done – changing the culture – on both sides of the table. That is a multi-generational challenge. All Obama can do is set a new tone.
Appointing Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State may well be the equivalent of setting a new tone, I’m just not sure what that tone is.