By Steve Hynd
Josh Mull at The Seminal has a great piece today arguing that the anti-war movement is not only winning, but winning on its own terms and by its own arguments.
In our sense, it is the folks arguing that war leads to peace and stability in Afghanistan asking those who say otherwise to try and work backwards from their own twisted arguments, to prove their war wrong. Once you start accepting their premises, about civilian casualties, counter-insurgency doctrine, or whatever it is, then proving your case to actually end the war becomes almost impossible.
Quite frankly, I�m not the one advocating for a decade-plus, trillion dollar occupation of Afghanistan in order to create a "stable security sector", so it�s not really my responsibility to help "adjust" and refine the arguments of anyone who does advocate for it. Rather those pushing for an end to the war are advocating their own policy to achieve their own national interests.
Cutting the trillion dollar war is because we need that money for our broken economy, job creation, and so forth. By withdrawing our military from Afghanistan we are strengthening our national security, removing our troops from an unwinnable quagmire that kills them there and at home, as well as removing the bloody occupation which provides much of the impetus for terrorist attacks and the Taliban insurgency. It�s not simply red teaming the pro-war crowd, it�s an independent political movement.
Read, as they say, the whole thing.
Josh has been a marvellous pick as the Afghanistan Blogging Fellow for The Seminal and Brave New Foundation and his work just keeps getting better and better. This is what a progressive national security journalist and blogger looks like. Don't be fooled by pretenders.
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