Afghanistan war was worth fighting in 2001, still is today

By U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

SPECIAL TO THE ARIZONA DAILY STAR,  October 12, 2009

American and British forces launched the war in Afghanistan with an intense nighttime bombing raid on Oct. 7, 2001. Most Americans — and much of the world — had no doubt that the mission was justified.
Less than a month earlier, al-Qaida terrorists had launched surprise attacks against the United States — attacks that seared the date Sept. 11 into the American consciousness and permanently altered the way we view the world.
This was a war worth fighting eight years ago and it remains so today.
The terrorists who engineered those attacks were hosted and protected by the Taliban-led government of Afghanistan. Our military goal was — and is — clear: Remove the Taliban from power, track down al-Qaida and other terrorists, and allow the people of Afghanistan to run their own country.
Last week, as we marked the eighth anniversary of the start of the war, a stable Afghanistan remained very much a work in progress. I witnessed this for myself recently on a congressional delegation trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan with two fellow members of the House Armed Services Committee.
Among the top officials we met with was Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. McChrystal’s assessment of the war is under review by President Obama.
In Afghanistan today, the Taliban no longer call the shots in Kabul, but they remain a potent force throughout much of the countryside. Al-Qaida no longer enjoys the safe haven it once did, but the terrorist who ordered the 9/11 attacks — Osama bin Laden — remains out of our grasp.
And while the people of Afghanistan recently selected a leader, widespread allegations of fraud marred the election and government corruption remains rampant.
The future of peace and stability in Afghanistan is inexorably linked to security in Pakistan. During my visit, it was encouraging to see the important gains being made in the training of Pakistani special forces by American counterterrorism experts.
There also have been steps forward in Afghanistan. Residents of Kabul now have electricity all day instead of sporadically. The pay of police officers has been increased to be competitive with that of soldiers. And more women soldiers and police officers are being trained to search female insurgents for hidden explosives and weapons.
Still, the challenges the world faces in Afghanistan cannot be understated. It is an agrarian, largely tribal society with little respect for the central government. The continued scourge of drugs adds to the difficulties. The untold number of poppy fields remains a stumbling block to true reform and is a large source of revenue for the Taliban.
American drug agents working with Afghan soldiers and police have wiped out poppy cultivation in 20 of the country’s 34 provinces. But poppy cultivation is deeply ingrained in Afghan history and tradition.
Despite substantive gains, the question I had for officials I met with was “Where do we go from here?”
Like so much about Afghanistan, the answer to this question is not easy. Complicating matters is the mounting toll this conflict is taking on our armed forces. In the first nine months of this year, 222 U.S. troops were killed.
Since our initial commitment to Afghanistan in 2001, that war of necessity became secondary to a war of choice in Iraq. As we took our eye off the ball in Afghanistan, our strategies and goals became less clear and the Taliban insurgency was allowed to regroup and plot its return. It must not be allowed to succeed.
Today, President Obama is faced with the challenge of rallying public and congressional support for the mission in Afghanistan. As commander in chief, he must set goals and establish metrics for success.
It must be the goal of our nation to ensure that we never repeat the same errors of indifference that preceded 9/11, and we never again allow terrorists to seek safe haven in Afghanistan.