Learning from Past Mistakes: U.S. Military Withdrawal and the Future of Afghanistan

Sean Bird
COR-310-01
Final Paper
4/10/14

U.S. Military and the Arab World

Since 2009, the United States military has slowly been withdrawing troops from various Arab countries throughout the Middle East. As the process continues into 2014, there is evidence that the withdrawal is doing more harm than good. Since the last convoy of troops left Iraq in December 2011, the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Ramadi have been recaptured by Al Qaeda-linked militants. Many neighboring countries are seeing tensions rise as well, with car bombs exploding in Lebanon and the Syrian civil war that continues to escalade. There is speculation that Afghanistan will see the same affects when the U.S. military withdraws by the end of 2014.    

In the country of Iraq, the U.S. Military spent the better half of two years reducing their numbers of troops on the ground before announcing total troop withdrawal in October 2011. During this time, militant activity had been holding steady with various small attacks accruing daily. Though the frequency of attacks was lower than it had been during the troop surge of 2006-2007, the U.S. government believed the Iraqi government was now able to take over all military operations. According to NBC news, at the time many thought the "Iraqi military wasn’t ready and that militants are simply waiting for the U.S. military to withdrawal before planning any major attacks again."

 Since the last troops left Iraq in December 2011, the country’s military has struggled with militants. Most recently, the Washington post reported that a "rejuvenated al-Qaeda-affiliated force asserted control over the western Iraqi city of Fallujah in January 2014, raising its flag over government buildings and declaring an Islamic state in one of the most crucial areas that U.S. troops fought to pacify before withdrawing from Iraq two years ago." Al-Qaeda certainly has seemed to have bounced back; the group was behind a campaign of bombings in 2013 that killed some 8,000 people. Today Iraqi security forces still struggle to regain territory in the west of the country that was lost earlier in the year.

It’s undeniable that the U.S. military withdrew its troops from Iraq too soon. The Iraqi security forces cannot hold up to the vast numbers of Al-Qaeda linked militants that threaten the western section of the country. The Iraqi military no longer has the logistical support from the US military and is now without troop training support. Even the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, Stuart W. Bowen Jr reports that "Though advances continue to be made, corruption, lack of capacity to handle logistics and an absence of realistic planning threaten to undermine the security infrastructure and equipment introduced into Iraq by U.S.-led forces." These changes have only had a negative effect on the country as poorly trained forces struggle to seek and destroy the enemy.   

As militants grow stronger in Syria, the Iraqi security forces struggle to suppress the threat from the border. Militants freely cross the border of Iraq and Syria, smuggling everything from ammo to homemade bombs. The Al-Arabiya news agency reported that Iraqi security forces “chose to focus on the border in December 2013 in order to seek out and destroy al-Qaeda and militant hideouts in the country’s western desert.” This only led to scarce security resources elsewhere in the country making the takeover of cities like Fallujah possible. Most likely the outcome would have turned out differently if there was still a strong military presence in the country.

As militants continue to threaten security in Iraq, the Lebanese government is watching as a new wave of attacks begin to threaten its security. The Washington Post reported that "two different Al-Qaeda affiliated groups have claimed a string of suicide bombings in Lebanon that took the lives of many woman and children in the first six weeks of 2014." It’s also reported that Al-Qaeda has been steadily building its support networks in Lebanon for more than a year as militants from the Syrian conflict flee to Lebanon. It’s clear the Lebanese military faces a daunting task ahead of them, as most recently the border region with Syria is seeing the most violence as suicide attacks rise.

In 2011, President Barack Obama first announced the steady withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. At the time, it was a surprise to hear this – just two years earlier Obama had sent over 30,000 troops to combat a growing Al-Qaeda threat. Many people, including Peter Bergen from CNN, argued that the Afghan security forces "weren’t ready for this kind of withdrawal." They asserted that the security forces were still regularly fighting back against militants and suffering many casualties, injuries, and setbacks. The Pentagon, however, maintained that the Afghan security forces were prepared for the withdrawal.

It’s clear that total troop withdrawal from various Arab countries is having a negative effect on the region. In the years since the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, we’ve seen that security continues to be a major problem in the country. In Lebanon, the growing Al-Qaeda insurgency is threatening the country’s security. The Arab world cannot afford to have Afghanistan follow the same path as Iraq, but there’s no telling what would happen if Al-Qaeda regains a foothold in the country. The US military must continue to play a role in these countries’ security operations in order to ensure a safe and peaceful future for Afghanistan.

 

Works Cited

 

Bergen, Peter. "Abandon Afghanistan? A Dumb Idea." CNN Opinion. CNN, 10 Jan. 2014. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.

 

Johnson, Kay. "Civilian Casualties In Afghanistan Rise, More Children Dying In Violence: Report." The World Post. The Huffington Post, 8 Feb. 2014. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.

 

Loveday, Morris. "Fears for Lebanon’s Stability as Al-Qaeda Builds Networks." Washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post, 18 Mar. 2014. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.


Pincus, Walter. "Iraqi Security Forces Facing Serious Problems, U.S. Oversight Official Reports." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 30 Jan. 2011. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

   

Sly, Liz. "Al-Qaeda-linked Force Captures Fallujah amid Rise in Violence in Iraq." The Washington Post 3 Jan. 2014, Middle East sec.: n. pag. Print.

 

Staff Writer. "Iraq Closes Border with Ally Syria." Al-Arabiya News. Al-Arabiya News, 24 Dec. 2013. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.

 

Todd, Chuck, Kristin Welker, and Jim Wiklaszewski. "Obama: All US Troops out of Iraq by End of Year." NBC News [New York, New York] 21 Oct. 2011: n. pag. Print.