Long and lost

It didn’t take long for the US to announce that its remaining troops in Afghanistan would have a larger combat role than previously admitted. Just days after President Barack Obama said that 8,400 troops would stay on in the country to train Afghan security forces till at least 2020 – rather than the 5,500 troops originally announced – Defence Secretary Ashton Carter now says these troops can accompany Afghan troops whenever they want. Previously, they were only allowed to join the Afghan troops if they were about to suffer a serious military setback. Carter made this announcement while in Afghanistan on an unannounced visit. That US officials have to make surprise visits to the country out of security fears 15 years after invading the country indicates how this war has been thoroughly lost, and there is nothing the extra forces and their greater engagement will be able to do about it. The Taliban now control more territory than they have at any point since they were driven out of power; and even as US forces have been drawing down, they have used indiscriminate air power to little effect. The predictable consequence of changing the terms of engagement of US forces will be to anger the enemy as well as allies like Pakistan.

Afghan forces have rarely hesitated firing across the Durand Line or even sending their troops in hot pursuit if they think militants are crossing over. If the US forces accompanying Afghan troops crossed over with them, this would naturally cause the kind of anger and uproar that is seen after US drone strikes in the country. The thought of US forces fighting on our territory can only worsen ties between the two countries. It will also make the reconciliation process between the Afghan government and the Taliban more problematic since the presence of an outside occupier is one of the greatest stumbling blocks to peace. Pakistan, which is also a vital member of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group, will not be happy about this development either. The US – in the hope of making marginal gains against an enemy it should know it cannot rout in battle – is putting at risk any hope of peace. That is in keeping with everything it has done in Afghanistan but one would have hoped it had learned something during its disastrous occupation. Rather than ending that occupation it is now unnecessarily prolonging it.