Issues Under Fire: U.S. Secretly Decides to Stay in Afghanistan for Good

Issues Under Fire: U.S. Secretly Decides to Stay in Afghanistan for Good 

In a flurry of fast breaking stories lately, the one that should've captured and held the headlines was hardly noticed. Were it not for the Iran versus the West nuclear negotiations falling short, the ugly firing of U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and the nation being placed on "riot watch" in Ferguson Mo., we might have noticed President Obama doing an abrupt about face in Afghanistan. 

Quietly announcing U.S. troops would remain in-country, not only to advise and train Afghan forces, but administration officials admit U.S. troops would also stay to actively engage the Taliban, the Haqqani network and Al qaeda of course. Perhaps we should have seen this coming, since all of the aforementioned, as well as others have been extremely active and extraordinarily effective in terrorizing locals daily. Whatever their goals are, they seem intent on achieving them no matter what the U.S. led "coalition of the sick and tired " does. 

With car bombs and suicide bombers going off everywhere and anywhere militants want them to, Afghanistan looks a lot like Iraq after the U.S. made for the exits there. Hence, the new Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani is backing an expanded U.S. military role in Afghanistan. He reversed former president Hamid Karzai's ban on night raid operation and will allow U.S. air and drone strikes to support U.S. and Afghan forces on the ground. Without question, these actions represent a complete turnaround.

Presumably, the Obama administration has concluded Afghanistan was showing all the signs of falling into chaos like Iraq. Fairly or not, leaving with lock stock and barrel, "before the job was done" in Iraq has been the charge leveled against the Obama administration and its one the White House seems determined not to let stick. The only problem most have with the "stay until the job is done" philosophy is, nobody knows what the job is or if the job, will ever be done? 

Despite assurances Al Qaeda has been decimated, the Afghans could handle their own business going forward and ISIS being the JV team, reality reveals a much murkier view. It appears terror organizations are growing in strength throughout the region, while networking and forming allegiances with one another.

The more Western powers commit themselves to the eradication of one or more of these militant factions, others simply filled the vacuum. They now have Western powers so nervous and reactionary to real and perceived threats to their respective homelands, they've resorted to raising terror threat levels regularly and in some cases irrationally.   

Bottom Line: Although President Obama has yet to articulate a clear strategy, mission or purpose for continuing business as usual in Afghanistan and Iraq, notwithstanding its creeping incursion into Syria, it appears the United States will stay the course for decades to come.

Considering this President was elected to curtail America's military involvement around the globe, Barack Obama will likely leave office with the United States fighting in wars all over the Middle East, while threatening Iran and taunting Russia to boot. Go figure. Podcast Below!