Afghanistan: A War of Necessity?

Abstract

Nine Years have passed since Coalition forces removed the Taliban from power, yet a persistent conflict continues, and insurgents are still present and in some cases control various parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Many U.S citizens, however, continue to question the "necessity" of winning the war in Afghanistan and whether it's vital to our national interests. Afghanistan continues to be central to the war on terrorism and the United States and allies cannot withdraw until the country is secure. In the wake of 9/11, invading Afghanistan was a war of necessity. Due to the severe training shortfalls, Afghan security forces currently cannot offer the required protection to the people. Governance is still appalling and corruption is rampant. Only the United States has the resources to fix it. The United States needed to act in self-defense to defeat al Qaeda, and minimize the chance of a terrorist attack on American citizens. Henry Kissinger worries that a bad result in Afghanistan will create a big bang, but not a good one. This begs the question, "Is Afghanistan truly a war of necessity?"

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 12, 2010
Accession Number
ADA518327

Entities

People

  • Roger L. Shuck

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Afghanistan
  • Central Asia
  • Counterinsurgency
  • Ethnic Groups
  • Governments
  • International Organizations
  • Military Science
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • Nato
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • United States
  • United States Central Command
  • United States Military Academy
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.
  • Strategic Security Studies