Wed, 02nd Dec 2009 | Hi_ImJenny | 892 Views, 1 Nod.

Afghanistan: Broken Promises? (2011)

I am sure you all know, that Barack Obama has pledged up to 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, with 9000 of those being stationed within Helmand Province. Of course, this isn't what people want to hear, they wanted to hear how the troops would be withdrawn in the next year - but they will be soon, in eighteen months. Is this likely? Or will there be another setback? I'm not entirely convinced that the conflict wouldn't intensify to an even greater level.

This policy of 'build up and pull out' as it has been coined by the media would, on paper, work and be effective. I get the impression that American expecations are such that many people believe what Obama outlined today would wipe the slate clean and will work miracles, it's a bit of a false hope and could result in broken promises. There's too much tied up in Afghanistan to adopt a simple idea such as this, thousands have died in the conflict, American and British alike. It many be easy to send more troops to the warzone but essentially, it will be so difficult to remove them. Once the extra support is there, and the foundations are strengthened to take those away will mean the situation will be even worse than before.

The more I think about this and the more I read, I find myself thinking the same point over and over again - "Afghanistan is the new Vietnam". Now, I'm not going to launch into a History lesson as I'm sure many of you are aware of what went on during the 70's with the Vietnam war, surely we should have learnt from those times?

2011 will, from now, be the eighteen months that Obama has given to withdraw troops. Yet I feel that when that time comes, the situation will not change. Broken promises? I'm repeating this as well but this is how politics/international relations have become. Engaging in conflicts to improves the lives of others may get you extra brownie points but in the end, YOUR own people will suffer, your uncles, husbands, fathers and sons will be sent overseas and risk their lives. Call me negative, I don't mind but I'd disagree, I'm being realistic - wait until 2011 and we'll know for real whether Obama kept his word.