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Gates Refuses to Accept Reality in Afghanistan
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
June 5, 2011
All Rights Reserved.
Staring
retirement in the face, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates visited Forward
Operation Base Walton in a remote part of Afghanistan, thanking the troops for
their selfless service. With tears in his eyes, Gates urged President Barack Obama to remove support troops first
before withdrawing combat forces.
“If it were up to me, I would leave the shooters for last,” said Gates, refusing
to admit defeat in an untenable mission for U.S. forces. Gates wants to thank the troops but
refuses to accept defeat in a flawed mission, that picked the Taliban as the
enemy, letting Osama bin Laden escape from Tora Bora in Dec. 2001. Ten years and nearly a trillion
dollars later, the U.S. reached its stated Afghan goal of killing Osama bin
Laden May 1 in Pakistan. U.S.
forces were placed in a shooting gallery in Afghanistan when Taliban leaders and
Bin Laden escaped to Pakistan in 2001.
Since Bin Laden’s death May 1, it reminded U.S. commanders that the stated goal of getting the Bin Laden was reached. With Gates retiring June 30 and
Centcom and Afghan Commander Gen. David Petraeus set to take over the Defense
Dept., there’s less reason to continue the war.
While current Afghan President Hamid Karzai has his problems, the Taliban
was always and afterthought, responsible for harboring Bin Laden but not for
Sept. 11. Sacrificing U.S. soldiers
to go after the Taliban in Afghanistan was not what the U.S. signed up for. Former President George W.
Bush launched Operation Enduring Freedom Oct. 7, 2001 to get Osama bin Laden,
less than one month after Sept. 11.
White House and Pentagon officials knew then the Taliban was not responsible for
9/11.
Gates reluctance to expeditiously remove Afghanistan’s combat forces
continues to cover-up a failed mission that placed 100,000 U.S. troops in harm’s
way when Bin Laden had escaped Afghanistan in 2001. When Bush pivoted and launched the
Iraq War March 20, 2003 to get Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction,
Afghanistan went on the back burner.
Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin L.
Powell, Defense Secretar Donald Rumsfeld and National Security Advisor
Condoleezza Rice, all insisted that Bin Laden moved the battle to Iraq. Only after Obama took office Jan.
20, 2009 did the U.S. shift priorities back to Afghantan. It’s beyond ironic that Gates begs
Obama to continue U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan. Gates, like his
predecessor Donald Rumsfeld, refuses to admit his mistakes and urge a change in
policy.
Gates’ suggestion to keep up Afghanistan’s combat operations offers Obama
the worst possible advice. Barack
is already nearly three years late fulfilling a campaign promise to end wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead of
scaling down troops on taking office, Barack escalated the war, surging troops
by 80,000. U.S. casualties
escalated five-fold, switching the killing field from Iraq to Afghanistan. When Petraeus takes over from CIA
Director Leon Panetta and Panetta moves to Defense Secretary, the impetus for
the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will end.
“You all will be in my thoughts and prayers every day for the rest of my
life,” said Gates to Marines at Camp Dyer, a remote outpost in Helmand Province. Gates knows that his policies
resulted in countless deaths of U.S. troops without any chance of success. His refusal to move quickly with
ending combat operations continues a failed policy.
Afghanistan was not winnable largely due to infiltration by the Taliban
in Karzai’s government and military.
U.S. officials know that Karzai is part of the same Pashtun tribe as the
Taliban His own brother is a
major player in Aftghanistan’s lucrative opium trade. “To make a decision on July in
complete isolation from anything else has no strategic meaning,” said Gates,
urging Obama to proceed cautiously toward ending combat operations. If the president orders a methodical
withdrawal in July, it mirrors the reality on the ground that little more can be
done. “I’d try to maximize my
combat capability as long as this process goes on,” said Gates, again refusing
to admit that U.S. forces should not be used to fight a guerrilla war or
nation-build in Afghanistan. Since Bin Laden’s May 1 death in Pakistan, the rug as been pulled out from underneath the
Afghan War.
Gates inherited a failed strategy from his predecessor, Defense Secretary
Don Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld gave many
excuses why the Iraq and Afghan wars weren’t succeeding in getting Bin Laden and
remnants of the Taliban. Gates’
departure reminds the White House that the Pentagon rarely admits mistakes. Once Osama bin Laden and the Taliban
fled Tora Bora in Dec. 2001, the Pentagon should have switched gears and chased
the culprits into their Pakistan hiding places.
In the name of bipartisanship, Obama retained Gates as Defense Secretary,
failing to make the necessary paradigm shift to end both costly wars. It’s now up to the
commander-in-chief to pivot, ending both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Neither war helped the U.S. economy,
nor U.S. national security. Since
Gates won’t admit his mistakes, it’s time for Barack to finally get the policy
right.
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