Former CIA Officer Jack Rice Analyzes Afghanistan Leaks

This Just In: The War In Afghanistan Is Going Poorly

WikiLeaks has released some 91,000 documents to the New York Times, Germany’s Der Spiegel and Great Britain’s The Guardian. What they highlight is an almost blow-by-blow look at the war in Afghanistan from the beginning of 2004 through the end of 2009. In my mind, there are basically three significant issues raised by these documents. Two of them have to do with what’s going on in Afghanistan, and the third is the interesting response they’ve garnered from the U.S. Government.

First, the issue of Afghanistan and what it means:

One of the major issues highlighted in these documents is the number of civilians that have been targeted, occasionally inadvertently, inside of Afghanistan. This is one of the big issues that since-resigned Gen. Stanley McChrystal tried to deal with. The problem is that dealing with an insurgency, particularly in a place like Afghanistan, is extremely challenging. What makes it far worse, and far more complicated, is that the more civilians you kill, the further you drive other civilians to side with and embrace the insurgency. Simply put, if success is defined by bodies killed, the more successful you are, the less successful you’ll be in the long-run.

These documents also highlight what comes next for U.S. and NATO troops. As the Taliban and what’s left of al-Qaeda continue to insert themselves inside of society in Afghanistan, the more our troops must leverage their way in and push those insurgents out. But to distinguish between an insurgent and a civilian is almost impossible at this point.

A second issue exposed within these documents, an issue which I think is far more troubling, and something that neither NATO nor U.S. troops have been willing to acknowledge, is the corruption and close association between the Taliban and the Pakistani ISI. According to these documents, the ISI is working almost hand-in-glove with the Taliban, not only targeting Afghan officials, but also aiding insurgents who are targeting U.S. troops. This is an extraordinary situation when you consider that the third greatest ally of ours in the war against terror, in terms of money, is Pakistan. Thus, our closest ally in the region is also the most sophisticated ally of the very same people that we’re fighting. This variable highlights almost the impossibility of success in Afghanistan.

Now, let me turn to the issue of the United States’ response to the leaked documents. Late last night, the White House released a statement from National Security Advisor Gen. James Jones condemning the release of these documents. Jones focused specifically on how the leaks pose grave threats to U.S. troops. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have since been echoing Jones’ sentiment. But here’s the interesting aspect; what Jones and others in Congress are doing is ignoring the content of all of the leaks themselves. It’s much easier to explain what happens when a leak actually finds its way to the press. Conversely, it’s much more complicated to explain what happens when your closest ally in the region is working with your enemies, or to explain the inability of your own troops to distinguish between the bad guys and unarmed civilians who are being killed by the hundreds across Afghanistan.

As we look back over the nine years that U.S. and NATO forces have spent in the region, the difficulty now is trying to figure out how to extricate oneself; that’s what the White House is hoping to accomplish at this point. But the problem that this administration also faces is how to do that without creating even more instability. In some ways, I think this issue is being pushed to the side; they’re far more interested in finding a political solution to Afghanistan. What these leaks are doing is making that political situation much more difficult to achieve. I, along with millions of other Americans, am hoping for the best. But sadly, it appears that the worst is coming.

Jack Rice is an International Correspondent for the Talk Radio News Service. He is also a former CIA officer, prosecutor and talk show host. He appears frequently on MSNBC and CNN.

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