President Obama has decided to maintain 9,800 American troops in Afghanistan until 2016. His intention is to have more than just an embassy presence by having troops stationed there to both train Afghan troops apart from going after Al-Qaeda.
This comes right on the heels of the Afghan National Army regaining control of the city of Kunduz after 15 days of fierce fighting with the Taliban. Mentioning Kunduz is significant because it was the last city that American troops drove the Taliban out of in 2001.
Yet with its assault on the city in April, the Taliban was able to regain control of the city by the month of June since the Afghan government wasn’t able to send reinforcements or supplies in time.
Ever since the United States withdrew most of its troops from Afghanistan – almost 100,000 were on Afghan soil – the Taliban has been regaining territory steadily. Unfortunately, their advance has gone unreported because the Afghan government had refused to talk about it.
Also, from having almost 800 U.S bases in the country, this has been limited to only a few dozen now. The consequence of this, according to Gen. John Campbell, is that they are now blind to enemy movement and attacks.
According to the United Nations, Taliban is in control of one-fifth of the country. Given how dangerous this is, and with the United States withdrawing, the Afghan government has turned to Russia for artillery, arms and gunships.
Yes, Russia intends to fill in that void. So, no matter how many political debates discuss the lives lost, money spent and morally justify why the United States should have not engaged in military, it’s clear that we haven’t won this war.