Those in the know are running for the exits in Afghanistan
The Associated Press is reporting that Afghans are seeking to get off that sinking ship at the fastest rate since the war began despite proclamations from the Obama administration that all is well.
More Afghans fled the country and sought asylum abroad in 2011 than in any other year since the start of the decade-long war, suggesting that many are looking for their own exit strategy as international troops prepare to withdraw.
From January to November, more than 30,000 Afghans applied for political asylum worldwide, a 25 percent increase over the same period the previous year and more than triple the level of just four years ago, according to U.N. statistics obtained by The Associated Press ahead of their scheduled publication later this year.
Many Afghans are turning to a thriving and increasingly sophisticated human smuggling industry to get themselves — or in most cases, their sons — out of the country. They pay anywhere from a few hundred dollars to cross into Iran or Pakistan to more $25,000 for fake papers and flights to places like London or Stockholm.
Thousands of refugees also return each year, but their numbers have been dwindling as the asylum applications rise. Both trends highlight worries among Afghans about what may happen after 2014, when American and other NATO troops turn security over to the Afghan army and police.
I’ll avoid insulting both the intelligence of TAH readers and the plight of the Vietnamese by drawing too many comparisons to that country circa 1974-75 but the signals coming from those on the ground are clear: the Afghans have lost faith in both the willingness of the United States to finish the job started in 2001 and the Karzai regime’s ability to remain in power once the last vestige of hope departs on a UH-60. That country, and all out interests there, are circling the drain but the people holding the stopper seem too busy lining up donors and making speeches for the 2012 campaign to pull it back from the brink.
1,886 dead Americans and counting.
Category: Foreign Policy, Military issues, Politics
There is nothing new here really though, the press just seems to have taken notice of this lately. People started “rushing for the exits” almost from the minute Obama announced his timeline two years ago. As a side note this has also made people less wilingly to cooperate with us.
“What we started” in 2001 was executed and completed not long after. Though American infallibility is touted as a politically correct foregone conclusion, the success of Afghanistan as a functioning democracy is not.
We need to leave, the mission was accomplishedm – Defeated the Taliban, Killed OBL – if the Afghans can’t make their country work it isn’t our fault. The dump is not worth the life of one single more American
#2 “Though American infallibility is touted as a politically correct foregone conclusion…” it is? Since when? Being determined hardly registers as infallible.
@3: I agree that the initial mission was completed, however, the end game wasn’t, which, in my opinion, was to eradicate the taliban and AQ in Afghanistan. The border with Pakistan is porous and has allowed the taliban and AQ to come and go as they please. Our interest in obtaining victory was lost at that time, because we can’t count on Pakistan to assist us, since it’s pretty much evenly divided of those who help the taliban and AQ and those that help us, in Pakistan. Plus, as I have said many times, we, as a country, haven’t the will to win. I believe it’s because we think it’s easier to negotiate a time table to leave than to do what’s necessary for victory. The taliban, AQ, Karzai government, and the people of Afghanistan all see us as weak willed. That’s why they are all getting while the getting is good.