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Feinstein: I Don't Think Afghanistan Can Be A Democracy
Ben Frumin | September 13, 2009, 11:15AM
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Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) told John King on CNN's State Of The Union this morning that she doesn't see how Afghanistan will become a democracy.
I do not believe we can build a democratic state in Afghanistan. I believe it will remain [a] tribal entity.
The Democratic Senator also said the current mission in Afghanistan isn't clear, and that Congress must be given a clearer idea of US objectives and time lines in Afghanistan.
This all comes in the wake of rising opposition among Democratic lawmakers to sending more US troops to Afghanistan. On Friday, Sen. Carl Levin gave a floor speech urging President Obama not to send more troops to Afghanistan.
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Snarky
September 13, 2009 1:22 PM
Thank you, Dianne. This is a reality that many nations before us have refused to accept, until they were worn out with trying. Why can't the US military learn from history? If Alexander The Great couldn't conquer Afghanistan -- after he'd conquered everything else -- what makes us think we can? England and Russia give it a try too, with the same results.
These people don't understand democracy and they never will. And why should they? It's their country, after all. I say left them have it.
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diachronic
September 13, 2009 3:08 PM
Feinstein is right that objectives aren't clear (the bit about nation-building is irrelevant, as we should not be involved in that activity anyway).
The reason objectives are unclear is obvious. There are Taliban in Afghanistan. There are no al Qaeda.
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FDRdog
September 13, 2009 5:00 PM in reply to diachronic
"There are no al Qaeda [in Afghanistan]."
Do you have a source for this information?
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diachronic
September 13, 2009 5:10 PM in reply to FDRdog
Yes, of course.
"Q: If the war is supposed to be about al-Qaida, why aren't we fighting them?
A: They moved. Bin Laden and other senior al-Qaida leaders are presumed to be hiding across the border in Pakistan, in a mountainous region where the U.S.-supported government in Islamabad has little control. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said Friday he sees no signs of a major al-Qaida presence in the country but the group maintains close links to insurgents. The U.S. strategy is predicated on the notion that al-Qaida would return if insurgents prevail."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jG_2tsp8fZWr0GRo6QuqU4ybqr0gD9ALRB2G0
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josephcast
September 13, 2009 5:46 PM
Possible answer: a system of gov't based on the loya jirga.
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NobleCommentDecider
September 13, 2009 6:13 PM in reply to josephcast
Whatever the hell kind of government they want to have, let them do it on their own. We have been over there killing and getting killed for 8 years. It is time for Obama to declare his own mission accomplished and let the locals fight over each valley and village and live with the consequences. Frankly, I think Pakistan is a nuclear armed basket case and a never ending source of fighters and extremists. Pakistan likes to let the fighters across the border on the hopes they won't come back. Let responsible people in the region deal with the Taliban and we can give them every kind of support but our troops.
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NobleCommentDecider
September 13, 2009 6:02 PM
You could fight these people forever, Pakistan is supposedly a country with democracy but it is equally as corrupt as the Karzai government in Afghanistan. Pakistan is our ally and I suppose a model for the area, and they legally bury women alive for choosing their own husbands, with government ministers defending the practice, see linked reports.
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El Puerco
September 14, 2009 8:27 AM
Well,India is pretty damn corrupt as well, but it is a stable democracy. In the end, however, corruption and democracy are not our problems and thus we might as well get out. The question, of course, is what do we do if Al Quaeda returns to a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan? More drone bombings? Andrew Bacevitch, a pretty strong war critic, suggested keeping a small number of American troops to monitor and react if the Taliban or the warlords end up harboring Al Quaeda again.
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SqueakyRat
September 14, 2009 1:32 PM in reply to El Puerco
I don't think corruption is the main problem. It's tribalism, as Feinstein said.
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Steve Gilpatrick
September 14, 2009 8:41 AM
I'm a teacher. I had two students graduate this past May and forego college so that they could enlist in the military and go to Afghanistan. "I hope they don't end it before I get there." They are great kids with wonderful families. Their parents are scared to death but don't want to talk about it. The boys will come back one way or another. And for what?, Obama's political agenda.
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karimo
September 14, 2009 9:33 AM
Please revise your headline. Finestein's wording is that we, the USofA, cannot build a democracy in Afghanistan; not that Democracy is not possible in Afghanistan. After all, at some point in the past we were all tribal.
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Steve Gilpatrick
September 14, 2009 10:00 AM
I'm a teacher. I had two students graduate this past May and forego college so that they could enlist in the military and go to Afghanistan. "I hope they don't end it before I get there." They are great kids with wonderful families. Their parents are scared to death but don't want to talk about it. The boys will come back one way or another. And for what?, Obama's political agenda.
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NobleCommentDecider
September 14, 2009 11:33 AM in reply to Steve Gilpatrick
Dear teacher, you sound like a Bush Baser although like most you likely wouldn't admit it.
Your hero George w. Bush started the Afghan war 8 years ago, and the Iraq war 6 years ago for his 'political agenda', and he essentially lost the Afghan war before Obama became President, which office Obama has had for only 8 months.
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NobleCommentDecider
September 14, 2009 11:26 AM
McClatchy reports today the Pakistan is (and has) allowed al Qaeda to set up training bases in the Punjab, the report is on a new base. "Terror group builds big base under Pakistani officials' noses..A Pakistani terrorist group that's allied with al Qaeda and sends jihadists to Afghanistan to fight U.S. and government troops is building a huge new base in full view of the authorities in Pakistan's most heavily populated province, locals and officials told McClatchy.".
If 70 Million+ population Pakistan isn't going to rein in the terror groups we have zero chance of keeping them from crossing into Afghanistan.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/75340.html
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Steve Gilpatrick
September 14, 2009 12:30 PM
nope...I voted for Angela Davis. I assume you know who she is.
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