Afghanistan: A Silk Road Strategy
As 2011 chugs away into the spring time and closer to the halfway point of the year, it has left many wondering in the U.S. how exactly our military strategy in Afghanistan is playing out, and what the eventual outcome will be. The steady payment of blood by U.S. Soldiers and its ISAF partners, along with lack of measured sustainability has caused a growing number of Americans to call for a hasty withdrawal, mission complete or no. Seeking respite and exhausted from a war that has cost taxpayers billions, dragging on for over a decade, many of these Americans are almost willing to face whatever aftermath a withdrawal would bring. How can an American populace support a war when even its own Soldiers on the ground cannot provide a clearly defined strategy or measured progress? Further proof of waning support is made evident by the lack of mention in President Obama’s recent State of the Union. What the U.S. needs right now is a clearly defined strategy, exit or not, that allows for a measure of gain, and one of lasting effect. But what the American populace AND many of its military personnel have failed to realize is that there HAS been progress and gain in Afghanistan; they’ve just been unintended and thus not yet measured. And it’s a gain that with an added effort could be the game-changer for all the participants.
The measure of progress I speak of, that the Soldier and civilian leadership on the ground has failed to fully comprehend, is that of the vast transportation network that has grown within Afghanistan in just a few years time. With highways and electric power lines being added by the mile each day, Afghanistan is quickly regaining its status as the hub of commerce for Eurasia, as it once was just a few hundred years ago. GDP in the country has grown at a yearly substantial rate of double digits since the fall of the Taliban, with growth rates last year at an unprecedented 22%! And this is from a country that lacks in providing basic services for the majority of its population. China can’t even compete with a number like that and Afghanistan revenue rates have shown no signs of stopping!
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