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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group
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To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (58300)11/22/2002 2:05:21 PM
From: Nadine Carroll  Read Replies (1) of 281500
 
Karen, that article concludes

a) that because nation-building in Afghanistan is not going up to the standards that the author thinks should be followed, we actually lost the war in Afghanistan

b) because Al Qaeda has not yet dried up and blown away, we have lost the war on Terror.

Both these assertions are absurd. In Afghanistan, we overthrew the Taliban and cleared Al Qaeda out of the country. We won the war. Now, it is possible to win a war and screw up the peace (though I hardly trust this author's slanted take on what's going on there), but even if you do, it doesn't mean that you didn't win the war.

Second, it is a war. Bush et. al. mean it when they say it's a war. This is not a rhetorical device. There is an enemy, and it is called Militant Islam. Though I must admit, Bush's rhetoric would be much stronger if he named the enemy properly.

The word "war" has several implications:

1. There is an enemy, who is organized to fight you.
2. You don't need to worry about making the enemy mad. The enemy is already mad. You should concentrate on degrading the enemy's ability to hurt you.
3. You should worry about not driving neutrals into the enemy camp.
4. Fighting the war will take some time, and it may not be clear at times what is going on or which side is winning. This is particularly true in a war without a front line.

To say that AQ still exists is to say that the war is still going on. It does not mean that the war is lost.
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