Reasons for the Withdrawal of U.S. Troops from Afghanistan
From 2001 to the present, the United States (US) military has been stationed in Afghanistan. The hunt for Osama bin Laden, the head of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group, prompted their relocation to Afghanistan. According to the US, Osama planned an assault on the World Trade Center (WTC) in September 2001. About 3000 people were dead. The effort to send US troops to Afghanistan to apprehend bin Laden and neutralize the Al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan was launched by then-President George W. Bush. In May 2011, US Special Forces tracked down and killed bin Laden in a high-security building in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The invasion branded 'War on Terror' saw heavy spending and huge resource allocations to the Military Department. It was approximately ten years of heavy budget allocations to the ministry of defense and both military and civilian casualties on the Afghanistan soil. Since 2012, American citizens have been urging for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan (Indyk et al., 2012).
The Accomplishment of the Mission
Firstly, Osama bin Laden whom the American troops pursued was killed, and the mission was accomplished. The key objective of invading Afghanistan was to pursue the leader of Al-Qaeda terrorist group and was achieved when Osama bin Laden was killed. By the year 2002, every American wanted Osama to be hunted and captured or killed for inflicting multiple casualties to innocent American citizens through a carefully executed terrorism mission (Biddle, 2013). Even if America was to spend a lot of resources during their stay in Afghanistan it was for the people who lost their lives during the September 2011 attack. The expectation of many was that U.S. troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan after they achieved their mission. Since their withdrawal has been postponed numerous times, the U.S. administration should remember that their troops achieved their mission and did not need to stay in Afghanistan risking their lives. Americans are no longer in support the invasion of Afghanistan, and therefore all U.S. troops must be withdrawn from the country (Barfield, 2012).
Afghanistan's Developing Governance
Secondly, Afghanistan has achieved a system of governance led by the President of the State. Afghanistan has been able to hold general elections despite the claims that the election was rigged to get the current President to power. The fact is that Afghanistan has a government even if it is less stable. Every nation takes the time to develop its political, economic, and social aspects to an elevated level. The presence of U.S. troops in Afghanistan may disrupt the growth of the Afghan military force. Instead of Afghan soldiers handling the various military operations such as the control of the Taliban forces, the task is carried out by the U.S. troops in the country. The Afghan forces cannot measure their capacity to keep the nation at peace while the U.S. troops are handling major security operations in the country. The U.S. troops assisted in overthrowing the Taliban rule in Afghanistan and restoring democracy in the country (Bumiller & Kopicki, 2012). Therefore, America should give Afghanistan the room for its democracy to develop its democratic aspects which are vital to the establishment of a strong governance.
Ensuring Safety for Americans
The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan will make America safe. The people of Afghanistan and the allied nations are not impressed by the continued presence of the American troops in the country. American have become targets of terrorist attacks in a bid to sensitize the U.S. administration to withdraw its troops from countries such as Afghanistan. American do not feel safe when they travel to the Middle East countries, and they have been made targets by varied terrorist groups loyal or affiliated to Al-Qaeda (Marsh, 2014). The rebel groups in Afghanistan have too made America and Americans a valuable target. Even when in their home country, Americans have the fear that they might be attacked anytime and their security has become a big concern. The major problem is that the people of Afghanistan and their friends from other allied countries feel that the presence of U.S. troops in the country is unjustified, and therefore should stopped. Some of the terrorist leaders have hidden behind Islam to sensitize radical Muslims to attack American whenever they get an opportunity. If the U.S. administration could place the safety of the American citizens as a top priority, they might consider withdrawing their troops in countries such as Afghanistan (Salazar, 2012). The move can minimize targeting of Americans by terrorist groups and organizations and reduce the enmity between the East and the West.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the presence of U.S. troops in Afghanistan should be reconsidered, and their withdrawal from the country be conducted as soon as possible. There are various reasons that can be put forward to support the campaign such as security for the American. If the troops are withdrawn from Afghanistan, there can never be more military casualties due to attacks by the insurgent groups and the relations between American and Afghanistan could improve.
References
Barfield, T. (2012). Afghans look at 2014. Current History, 111(744), 123.
Biddle, S. (2013). Ending the war in Afghanistan: How to avoid failure on the installment plan. Foreign Aff., 92, 49.
Bumiller, E., & Kopicki, A. (2012). Support in US for Afghan war drops sharply, poll finds. The New York Times, 26.
Indyk, M. S., Lieberthal, K. G., & O’Hanlon, M. E. (2012). Scoring Obama’s foreign policy: A progressive pragmatist tries to bend history. Foreign Affairs, 29-43.
Marsh, K. (2014). Obama’s surge: a bureaucratic politics analysis of the decision to order a troop surge in the Afghanistan war. Foreign Policy Analysis, 10(3), 265-288.
Salazar Torreon, B. (2012). US periods of war and dates of current conflicts.
