Afghanistan War Essay Sample

Hubris or Failed Strategy?

United states of america troops have withdrawn from Afghanistan following an agreement reached between your Taliban and the US government. The united states is seen to possess lost the war. But this was maybe not because of America’s excessive confidence or pride but a sheer failure in strategy and planning and a bunch of bad military decisions and policies.

Based on Robert Kagan, it was perhaps not excessive confidence nor pride that drove America to begin the war in Afghanistan, but fear. However , a few poor strategic moves, including a failure to behave and responding with extortionate and unwarranted force, triggered the outcome America least wanted: a resurgence of the group attached to the 911 attacks and destruction of the government America was hoping to put in destination for a continue fighting the Taliban.

Firstly, America did not apprehend Al Qaeda leader and founder Osama Bin Laden when he and his followers were trapped in the mountains. This failure was due to using reluctant Mujahideen fighters who allowed Al Qaeda to regain ground, compounded by the US’s refusal to send additional troops to help (Hirsch). The usa also did not foresee the revival of the Opium trade and, thereby, funding of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Attempts by the US to eradicate opium production only cause poor farmers and others who depended on opium production becoming incensed with the usa and looking at the Taliban. They were regarded as “refighting the last war” rather than exhibiting extreme hubris or wanting to implement strategies that worked in other wars before, for example , the Korean War and the Vietnam War (Morelock).

Along with these catastrophic blunders, then American president George W. Bush diverted resources from Afghanistan to Iraq to be able to invade that country (Hirsch). The personal preferences and beliefs of the then president have been cited as the reason behind this error, as has his failure to check with his own military leaders leading to America needing to fight two wars at once and being overextended (Pfiffner). Enemy forces in Iraq got a chance to learn the fighting strategies and vulnerabilities of the American military, which was soon transmitted to Afghanistan (Hirsch).

The human rights of Afghanistan’s people were also ignored and seen more as obstacles rather than a chance to build relationships and bolster what was essentially an opposition to the united states enemy (Gossman). More people therefore joined and aligned themselves with the Taliban efforts. This was more because America was so focused on their aim of eliminating the terrorists and preventing another terror attack, they were unable to see the benefit for them of building up or protecting the rights of individuals whose country they were invading. It was, but not due to overconfidence but from seeking one overriding goal in the wrong way.

There have been many disastrous results of the strategies utilized by America. Among the results of each one of these terrible strategies was that, like with the Vietnam War, those who aligned themselves with America were left stranded or unprotected and susceptible to the enemy that they had helped the united states fight (Ott). Moreover, the enemy gained in strength, and the united states, which they had gained get a grip on of, is in exactly the same position it had been before the terrorist attack on America (Hirsch).

For that reason it is easy to observe that America’s failure in Afghanistan was not as a result of hubris or overconfidence but poor military strategy and fear of reprisals.

Works Cited

Gossman, P. “How US-Funded Abuses Led to Failure in Afghanistan. ” Just Security, six July 2021, https://www.justsecurity.org/77290/how-us-funded-abuses-led-to-failure-in-afghanistan.
Hirsch, M. “How the U. S. Got 9/11 Wrong: The Lone Superpower Unintentionally Taught other World Just how to Fight It—and Win. ” Foreign Policy, 7 September 2021, https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/09/07/sept-11-united-states-20-years-failed-foreign-policy.
Kagan, R. “It wasn’t hubris that drove America in to Afghanistan. It absolutely was fear. ” The Washington Post, 26 August 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/26/robert-kagan-afghanistan-americans-forget.
McCoy, A. W. “The US’s Failure in Afghanistan Shows the Hubris of American Empire. ” Jacobin, 10 May 2021, https://jacobinmag.com/2021/05/biden-administration-afghanistan-war-withdrawl-opium-us-military.
McMaster, Lt. Gen. H. R. “U. S. Policy Mistakes in the Vietnam War. ” Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, Ny: Carnegie Council, 2021, https://youtu.be/AA4vTa-j_d8.
Morelock, J. D. “Strategy for Failure: America’s War in Vietnam. ” HistoryNet, September 2014, https://www.historynet.com/strategy-failure-americas-war-vietnam.htm.
Ott, M. “Afghanistan: Echoes of Vietnam? ” Wilson Center, 13 July 2021, https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/afghanistan-echoes-vietnam.
Pfiffner, J. P. “President Bush and the Invasion of Iraq: Presidential Leadership and Thwarted Goals. ” (ed), J. McCormick. The Domestic Sourced elements of American Foreign Policy 6th ed. Rowman & Littlefield, 2018, pp. 361-380.