Do We Know What We're Doing in Afghanistan?

Afghanistan has been a key geographic battleground since Alexander the Great in 327 B.C.E. Genghis Khan took charge of it in 1218-21 but only after reaching "painful accommodations" with the Afghans. The British lost it in 1842 and the Soviet Union was defeated there in 1989 after a nine-year struggle .

There is a reason Afghanistan has not been conquered, said Bennis. Afghanistan is one of the most tradition-bound countries in the world. Clans and tribes rule, not a national government. To try to institute a U.S.-style presidency there is overlooking the fact that whoever controls Kabul, controls nothing else.

Moreover, the United States' counter-insurgency strategy is aimed at protecting people living in large population centers, which amounts to only 20 percent since 80 percent of the people live in the rural lands, she said.

Those arguing for staying in Afghanistan warn that our safety is at stake: if the Taliban returns because it will team up with Al Qaeda and we'll have another 9/11.

"That's probably not true," said Bennis. "The Taliban and Al Qeada don't have much in common. That Al Qeada exists at all is very dicey."

During last year's presidential campaign Obama promised he'd get us out of Iraq because it was a "war of bad choices." Instead, he wanted to focus on Afghanistan as a "war of necessity" and do it right this time.

"Apparently, we didn't hear him or believe him," she said. "But now it's Obama's war."

After he became president, Obama proposed to send 17,000 more troops in March and then sent 21,000.

George W. Bush never wanted to say what the "War on Terrorism" would cost, how long it would take or what sacrifices Americans would make. Now, however, it is becoming increasingly clear that Americans have been called to sacrifice our country's valuable resources for a war that could instead be used for health care, education, unemployment, housing foreclosures, decaying cities and crumbling infrastructures.

"The peace movement has a lot of work to do," said Bennis. "It must demand de-escalation in Afghanistan."

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