Why Afghanistan is a worthy cause
By M. Ashraf Haidari
Letter to the editor of San Francisco Chronicle
In “Why
Afghanistan is a lost cause” (Op-Ed, July 11), Joel Brinkley abuses
Afghanistan’s dire socio-economic conditions to justify pessimists’ call for
premature withdrawal from Afghanistan. But he fails to acknowledge that these
worst social indicators, because of decades of imposed conflicts on Afghanistan,
were also caused by our alliance with the West against the former Soviet Union
in 1980s. State collapse and further poverty resulted from America’s negligence
of Afghanistan’s post-Cold War reconstruction in early 1990s, which made the
country a no man’s land where Al Qaeda masterminded the tragic 9/11 attacks,
killing more than 3,000 Americans.
Moreover, Mr. Brinkley simply forgets about the many strategic opportunities
for success in Afghanistan. These include our democratic achievements so far
that must be consolidated; our natural resources valued at $3 trillion that must
be exploited for long-term economic growth; popular support for the NATO forces
that must be capitalized on against our common enemies; or our resilient and
enterprising young population that must be harnessed to rebuild their homeland.
Afghans are not hopeless. Victory is possible. But the United States and its
allies must stay the course to win this necessary war for our nations’ shared
security.
M. Ashraf Haidari is the Political Counselor of the Embassy of Afghanistan in
Washington, DC. His e-mail is
haidari@embassyofafghanistan.org
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