The Afghan Affair

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The Afghan Affair: A Review of Literature

Charles W. Scott
University of Texas El Paso

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Abstract

Since 2001, The United States has been directly involved in Afghan matters. There have been
political, economic, and cultural involvement that has affected the entire country of Afghanistan.
As Americas involvement with their military forces has come to a pinnacle, certain attitudes
have surfaced that have forced the inevitable question: Should US military forces remain
involved with Afghan affairs? In this literature review, this question will be explored objectively
and conceptually from the view point of certain sources with facts and data that have analyzed
the impact of US military forces in Afghanistan.

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The Afghan Affair: A Review of Literature

When the American government discovered that Osama Bin Laden was responsible for
various acts of terrorism that led to a tragic day on September 11, 2001, the US government
claimed war against Afghanistan, and took action. This action would lead to US military forces
invading the country of Afghanistan that same year. The goal and objective would be clear to the
US government. Their plan would be to disrupt and defeat Bin Ladens forces of terrorism, and
prevent Afghanistan from being a refuge for any future terrorist attacks (DOD Report, 2013, p.
1). This invasion, supported by some and ridiculed by others, would have a global impact
throughout the entire world. Perhaps the greatest impact of this invasion was the effect on the
Afghan economy. For this reason, the effects of the presence of US military forces in
Afghanistan will be reviewed through these three questions:
1. What effects has the presence of US military forces had on Afghanistans
government?
2. What effects has the presence of US military forces had on Afghanistans security
forces?
3. What effects has the presence of US military forces had on Afghanistans regional
engagement?
These questions will satisfy the purpose of this literature review by giving the specific effects on
Afghanistans economy as a result of the critical decision to invade that was first invoked by
Former President, George W. Bush.

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What Effects has the presence of US military forces had on Afghanistans government?
Because of US presence, Afghanistan has received much guidance on government structure.
Thus, they also appointed Hamid Karzia as their president. The size of the Afghan government is
increasing gradually due to it gaining technical capacity to oversee changes in civil service and
the ability to introduce more education to the population of the labor force. (DOD Report, 2013).
Afghanistan has also set up three branches of government similar to American government.
There is the executive branch, legislative branch, and judicial action (DOD Report, 2013). The
executive branch, having majority of power, directs judicial action and the legislative branch.
Because of long and extensive periods that are required for solving formal disputes, some rural
Afghans view this form of government as ineffective and unreachable (DOD Report, 2013).
Although these views have been sizeable challenges for the Afghan government, an assessment
by US military officials had observed that national Afghan federal institutions continue to
advance in their ability to provide a constitutional, effective, steady, and responsive government
(DOD Report, 2013, p. 85). As of today with US guidance, Afghanistan is surprisingly exploring
different avenues of government with the aid from Washington consultants due to results of a
presidential election that was held. Because of allegations and speculations of a partially rigged
election, leading Afghan candidates have agreed to form a national unity government after much
debate (Rashid, 2014). This unity government will serve as an agreement for power sharing of
Afghan leadership. A Pashtun technocrat named Ashraf Ghani is to supersede Hamid Karzia as
Afghan President, and a former foreign minister named Abdullah is to be announced as Afghan
Chief Executive (Rashid, 2014). Concerned with changes within their government, Afghan
citizens expressed their opinions about the presidential election. Certain findings were released

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by the Asia Foundation, a non-profit organization of research, in a survey that is recorded in the
diagram chart below (Figure 1).
Figure 1

Asia Foundation writers reported that this survey, captured above, was the longest running poll
of public opinion in Afghanistan (Asia Foundation Writers, 2013.) The majority of Afghan
citizens, 56%, believed that the outcome of the election will be a positive difference within their
lives. The second majority, 24%, think that the outcome will make no difference (Asia
Foundation Writers, 2013.) The third majority, 15%, stated that the outcome the worse. The least
majority, 5%, didnt know. Furthermore, 81% of Afghan citizens believe that conditions of
security are a factor of them traveling to vote. (Asia Foundation Writers, 2013.)

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A reporter from Foreign Policy magazine wrote that Ashraf Ghani is going to inherit a
diminishing economy with insurgency that is escalating as Afghanistan gains its rule after more
than a decade of foreign occupation (O'Donnell, 2014). Furthermore, a military economy worth
hundreds of billions of dollars sustained Karzais government for that same period of time, and
also supported almost half of the population; majority of it has vanished already (O'Donnell,
2014). There is indication of a split within the group in war with the Kabul government in
Afghanistan because of the nature of insurgency violence has shifted to the use of magnetic
bombs and assassins with silencer weapons (O'Donnell, 2014). This is believed to be a warning
for the new leadership to be mindful of this due to discussions of US troop withdrawal
(O'Donnell, 2014).
What Effects has the presence of US military forces had on Afghanistans security forces?
The presence of US forces has influenced the security forces of Afghan significantly. The size of
the Afghanistan National Security Force (ANSF) has become almost twice as large since 2009
(DOD Report, 2013, p.33). Furthermore, ANSFs force strength has increased to 344,062 since
last year which calculates to 98 percent of 352,000 end strength that was authorized (DOD
Report, 2013, p.33). Although ANSF have faced adversity, they still have been able to withstand
enemy threats with the aid of US military presence (DOD Report, 2013, p.33). Perhaps one of
the greatest adversities that ANSF has overcome was an incident that occurred in 2012 with a US
military soldier (Cohen, 2012). According to a CNN reporter, this incident involved the killing of
16 Afghan civilians by a US Soldier in Kandahar (Cohen, 2012). A concern arose that this would
be the event that could cause tensions between the US and Afghanistan, and impact missions led
by US that transfer security responsibility to Afghanistan (Cohen, 2012). One of the comments
about the killings, stated by an Afghan villager in that area, was that there is anger toward the US

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military and Afghan security (Cohen, 2012). Amazingly, no significant change in the
professional rapport between the US and ANSF has been noted because both are still dedicated
to the original plan of improving Afghan security (DOD Report, 2013, p.33). As of now, ANSF
conduct nearly all security operations independently (DOD Report, 2013, p.33). They have
prevented insurgents from accomplishing objectives, reduced the number of security incidents
from the earlier year, and exhibited tactical superiority over the Taliban (DOD Report, 2013,
p.33). According to surveys of public opinion, Afghan citizens continue to have a positive
perception of the situation of security in all of Afghanistan (DOD Report, 2013, p.33).
However, the public opinion among American citizens on security issues regarding the presence
of US forces is slightly different (Newport, 2014). A question was asked if sending US troops
were a mistake or not (Newport, 2014). Although American citizens have shared different
views, the difference has only been very minor currently (Newport, 2014). The views of
American citizens (49% to 48%) are captured in the diagram below (Figure 2).

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Figure 2.

The poll above was from a survey conducted by a global research company called Gallup, Inc
(Figure 2). According to a Gallup reporter named Frank Newport, this diagram suggested that the
views of American citizens are essentially a split decision because of the 1 percent difference
only (Newport, 2014)
What Effects has the presence of US military forces had on Afghanistans regional
engagement?
The presence of US military forces has had a large impact on the regional engagement of
Afghanistan (Writers of Wikipedia, 2014). Regional engagement can be defined as the
community relations between a society and their neighboring societies that could have a
significant influence on their economy (Writers of Wikipedia, 2014). Afghanistans largest

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neighboring country, giving US retrograde operations support, is Pakistan which is located on

the southern border (DOD Report, 2013). An associate professor of the Political Science
Department at MIT(Massachusetts Institute of Technology) named Vipin Narang stated that
Pakistan now has a network advantage due to historical relationships in social groups, and also
due the existence of Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (Dizikes, 2014). This could be used as
means of influence in Afghanistan depending on the US presence in the future (Dizikes, 2014).
Pakistan has pursued actions to increase engagement with Afghanistan since 2012, and their
relationship has improved since the summer of 2013 (Dizikes, 2014). These actions concluded
with the successful visit by Hamid Karzia, Afghan President, to Islamabad in August later that
year. Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan, had a goal to reinforce economic and diplomatic ties to
Kabul which is the capital of Afghanistan (Dizikes, 2014). Although Pakistan has been a support
to the US in reaching political agreements in Afghanistan, their cooperation has been limited
(DOD Report, 2013, p.114). There are sanctuaries in Pakistan, from which the Taliban attack
into Afghanistan, that have become an important concern. Afghan-focused insurgent groups that
attack US and coalition forces continue to operate from Pakistan (DOD Report, 2013, p.114).
Conclusion/Synthesis
In conclusion, this literary review has discussed in the effects of the US military presence in
Afghanistan in depth by focusing on the three main parts of Afghans economy: government,
force security, and regional engagement. Currently, the nation of Afghanistan faces the most
momentous possibility of all times: the non-existence of US military presence. According to a
source from CNN, President Barack Obama is considering withdrawing troops from Afghanistan
completely (Yellin, 2013). Plans were discussed by US and Afghan officials about leaving a
small force in Afghanistan to aid in battling future insurgents, and training Afghan security

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personnel, but current Afghan President Hamid Karzai has managed to frustrate President
Obama, US Commander in Chief (Yellin, 2013). Their relationship has become bitter within the
lately after planned peace talks between the US and the Taliban. Karzai responded to this by
ceasing negotiations with the US on a residual troop presence post-2014 agreement (Yellin,
2013). Whatever decision is made, whether the presence of US military forces will remain or
depart, will continue to be an effect on Afghanistan and their fight for a prosperous society
forever.

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Reference

Asia Foundation Writers. (2013). Afghanistan in 2013: A survey of the Afghan people. Retrieved
October 19, 2014, from http://asiafoundation.org/country/afghanistan/2013-poll.php
Cohen, T. (2012, March 12). Afghan killings could impact military mission. Retrieved
September 26, 2014, from http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/12/us/afghanistan-shootingimpact/
Dizikes, P. (2014, February 19). After the US leaves Afghanistan, then what? Retrieved
September 26, 2014, from http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/after-the-us-leavesafghanistan-then-what-0219
DOD Report on Progress toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan. (2013, November 1).
Retrieved September 26, 2014, from
http://www.defense.gov/pubs/October_1230_Report_Master_Nov7.pdf
Newport, F. (2014, February 19). More Americans Now View Afghanistan War as a Mistake.
Retrieved October 17, 2014, from http://www.gallup.com/poll/167471/americans-viewafgh
O'Donnell, L. (2014, June 9). The Afghan War Economy Collapses. Retrieved October 3, 2014,
from
http://southasia.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/06/09/the_afghan_war_economy_collapses
anistan-war-mistake.aspx

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Rashid, A. (2014, September 25). Afghanistans Failed Transformation. Retrieved October 3,

2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/opinion/afghanistans-failedtransformation.html?_r=0
Writers of Wikipedia. (2014, April 23). Community Engagement. Retrieved October 17, 2014,
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_engagement
Yellin, J. (2013, July 11). Obama strongly considers withdrawing all troops from Afghanistan in
2014. Retrieved October 17, 2014, from
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/08/politics/afghanistan-troop-withdrawal/