High Noon in Afghanistan
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The war in Afghanistan, which over the years has closely touched many Loudoun families, must now have a major change of course.
If I were now in President Obama's position, faced with the strategic decision on America's role in Afghanistan after nine years, the longest American war in modern times and acknowledging hard lessons learned from defeat of the British Empire and Soviet Army over the past century in that large roadless mountainous country, I would soon announce a new strategic decision along this line:
The United States will now support the people and government of Afghanistan in a determined effort to defeat the common enemy through a counter-insurgency of special forces and weapons in that region. Our uniformed forces will be withdrawn on a carefully monitored schedule working with our allies.
This, I believe, is the best means of politically, militarily and culturally finally winning this long and costly war and bringing peace to the region.
As something of a student of history and having been in such war-torn places as a young Marine special forces combat officer attached to the CIA both in the Korean and Vietnam wars and later as a journalist before the United States was finally thrown out of Vietnam, I am entirely convinced that this is the right path to defeating al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
I hope those now close to the president will urge him to take this course of action.
Arthur “Nick” Arundel, who founded Times-Community News after pioneering the first all-news radio station in the United States in 1963, was a decorated U.S. Marine special forces officer in the Korean and Vietnam wars. He now lives with his family near The Plains.
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