Afghanistan's continued risks

By Thomas Lorenz

Future plans for the military in Afghanistan are underway with the recent meeting of President Obama and Commander of Afghanistan Operations General Joseph Dunford, on January 29, 2014.  A proposed total 15,000 U.S. and N.A.T.O troops are to remain in country and Senator (REP) John McCain spoke with reporter Wolf Blitzer during the show “The Situation Room" on CNN on January 28th about the future plans of withdrawal. Senator McCain stated right off with “Haven’t we learned from Iraq?” He discussed the loss of Iraq cities previously fought and won by U.S. troops and subsequently are currently held by Al Qaeda. Senator McCain warns that if this administration allows us to leave Afghanistan the same way we will see a repeat of Iraq. 

 With the impending U.S. troop withdrawal, continued threats of Taliban, and last but not least the up and coming April 5th, Afghanistan Presidential Elections have made Afghanistan one war that the U.S. can no longer afford.  As reported by Fox News, the Taliban have threatened to disrupt the elections and have already done so with 2 workers already dead from attacks. The campaigns of 11 people vying to be the next president in line will complicate matters not only for the campaign trail, but national security. It will require more frequent patrols and surveillance to ensure the safety of locals and politicians alike. Iraq had similar problems with bombings and drive by shootings during their first elections. Safety had became a major problem with little to no resolve and expect hostilities in this region to double before April.

The biggest problem is all the money wasting away in Afghanistan. Fox News reported that around 1 billion of U.S. Aid has gone unaccounted for. The USAID organization sent a letter to Fox news and requested the story not be published for future continuity with the country of Afghanistan. It appears that the billions of dollars we have spent, lives lost, and of course the protection of public perception of the current administration are at risk. Cutting ties will represent a lack of care towards lives lost and an overall waste of U.S. dollars.

News links:
Sen. John McCain Interview http://situationroom.blogs.cnn.com/2014/01/28/mccain-havent-we-learned-from-iraq/?iref=allsearch 

Afghanistan Elections http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/02/02/campaigning-for-afghanistan-presidential-election-kicks-off-with-rallies-and/

USAID report http://video.foxnews.com/v/3128524393001/us-aid-to-afghanistan-going-to-waste/#sp=show-clips