Fighting Terrorism in Afghanistan By U.S. Senator Russ Feingold Eau Claire Leader Telegram October 4, 2006 With so many of our brave troops, and our resources, in Iraq, the U.S. has not done enough to address the resurgence of the Taliban and growing instability in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, Afghanistan has been put on the back-burner by an Administration that wrongly believes the answers to our national security challenges lie solely in Iraq. If we don’t strengthen our efforts to defeat the Taliban and to create long-term stability in Afghanistan and the region, Afghanistan will remain what it was on 9/11 – a haven for those who seek to harm our country, and a source of instability that threatens our national security. I strongly supported the Administration’s decision to go to war in Afghanistan after 9/11. Osama bin Laden was there, protected by a brutal and repressive Taliban government. Five years later, a resurgent Taliban has successfully destabilized southern Afghanistan; opium production levels in the country are at record levels; reconstruction efforts throughout the country remain spotty; and violence is creeping back into Kabul, as we saw recently with the deadly car bomb close to the U.S. embassy. To succeed in Afghanistan, we must increase the number of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan and make sure that our men and women in uniform have the resources they need. General Jones, commander of NATO, recently called for an additional 2,500 troops to support the NATO-led operations in southern Afghanistan. NATO’s Secretary General has also called for more troops and even Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld recognizes that more resources are required. We should listen to what U.S. and NATO commanders are telling us, and we should also be prepared to introduce additional military capability there, if needed. Unlike in Iraq, where our forces are trapped in a sectarian conflict that requires a political solution, in Afghanistan additional troops will help advance the political progress of the Afghan people. But being successful will take more than force alone. We must do more to create a viable Afghan government and economy. We also need to support efforts to extend the legitimacy of the Afghan government throughout the country, and strengthen the ability of the government to provide security and basic services for its people. Unfortunately, U.S. political and economic assistance for Afghanistan was reduced by 30 percent in 2006, and the President has proposed an additional 67% cut. The international community must also live up to its large pledges. Only 50% of the assistance pledged by the international community between 2002 and 2005 has been delivered. This effort will require enhanced diplomacy at the regional, national and local levels. We must also work aggressively with the Pakistani government and tribes in the Afghan-Pakistan border area to ensure that future security and development efforts there breed confidence and trust. This also means we must dramatically increase our counter-narcotics efforts. The serious problem posed by the opium trade in Afghanistan won’t be solved with just a simple increase in funds. It will take a major shift in focus and attention, and requires that we evaluate all of our options, including the possibility of direct U.S. military and NATO action. Alternative livelihood programs – which have had only marginal success in the past – need to be redesigned. The U.S. should lead a renewed international effort to address this problem, and now. If we don’t act now to stabilize Afghanistan and root out the Taliban, we run the serious risk of leaving behind a weak government susceptible to extremism and the influence of powerful warlords, and a region vulnerable to the resurgence of terrorist networks that could threaten our national security. Our troops accomplished their mission in Iraq when they took out Saddam Hussein – maintaining a massive troop presence in that country just fuels anti-Americanism and serves as a recruitment tool for terrorists. But in Afghanistan, we have an opportunity to finish the job we started five years ago – eliminating the Taliban and destroying a safe haven for terrorist networks that seek to harm us. If we can rethink our approach in Afghanistan, and revamp our efforts there, we will eliminate a key staging ground for terrorists in our continued fight against al Qaeda, its affiliates, and its sympathizers. Afghanistan could be a major victory in the international fight against terrorist networks, but only if we are willing to give this critical effort the attention and resources it demands.