Lipstick on a belligerent pig
country or ultimately defeat a renascent Taliban insurgency. Moreover, America’s commitment to the struggle has been unclear at best, particularly as so much American military power was diverted to Iraq in an ill-advised campaign that continues to trouble American foreign policy today.
In making his announcement, Trump signalled an end to the admittedly ineffective approach taken by his predecessor, and essentially committed America to doing ‘whatever it takes’ to bring down resistance in Afghanistan and to ‘restore order’ to a region has no intention of being ‘ordered.’ In the meantime, he is issuing a serious challenge to one of America’s most troublesome allies – Pakistan – whose particular method of managing terrorism appears to the United States to be more problematic than it should be. Pakistan is also concerned about American efforts to increase the influence of its traditional enemy, India in the region. Both India and Pakistan are nuclear armed and neither seems to be keen on easing tensions any time soon. In terms of America’s already shaky alliance structure, this development could be disastrous, especially given the wavering loyalty of other NATO members like Turkey
In reality, Trump’s new policy is essentially the continuation of Obama’s nonpolicy without the make-up. It basically only promises more military activity, less accountability, and more violence with no end in sight. Vaguely, the president suggested that negotiations ‘might someday be possible,” although no conditions were named that might justify negotiating with a ‘terrorist; organization like the Taliban.
All of this has infuriated some of Trump’s most loyal followers. Ultra-nationalists, who oppose America’s expensive and wasteful involvement in foreign wars, were a key factor in Trump’s dubious electoral victory in November, and mobilized by Bannon and his ilk, have become more vocal, visible, and intimidating in recent months as they believed they had a champion in the White House. The sudden and bitter departure of ’their man in Washington’ has smacked of betrayal to many and an unlimited commitment to Middle Eastern conflict and a ramping up of current involvement flies directly in the face of the kind of promises Trump emphasized during his campaign. It signals a victory for the ‘internationalists’ in the administration – personified by son-in-law Jared Kushner and the ‘generals,’ including newly appointed Chief-of-staff John Kelly.
In essence, Trump is continuing with the unsuccessful Obama approach to Afghanistan and the region, only without the softening touches of Obama diplomacy. There is still no plan and no identifiable objective, but the talk is tougher, the threatened level of violence greater and the menace posed by an unhinge president palpable.
On the other hand, the policy announcement, such as it was, could indicate that the embattled commander-in-chief has finally begun to distance himself from those of his ardent supporters who gave credence to the President’s bombastic promises of real change and disentanglement from its erstwhile role as the ‘world’s policeman.’ The president tried to soften the blow by stating that his decision ran ‘counter to his gut instincts,’ but this is unlikely to calm the situation any, as right-wing ultranationalists will only see the policy shift as evidence if the perfidious influence of internationalists within ‘the deep state’ and of a well-meaning president compelled against his will to acquiesce in their demands. With Bannon now once again on the loose and in charge of the Breitbart media outlet that he has used so forcefully in the past, it looks like the president will now be faced with an insurgency by his most enthusiastic supporters. Whether this will make him more palatable to ‘mainstream’ politics remains to be seen of course, and the president has been eager to assuage his abandonment by a lukewarm response to the Nazis and White Nationalists who have been increasingly restive in recent weeks. It is a risk the president appears willing to take as his support among the rest of his base reaches desperate levels,
Trump’s Afghanistan announcement does nothing to address the fundamental problems in that region of the world and could indeed make things much worse, It will, however, give some solace to those who believe that America’ has to abandon its ‘pansy’ approach to hostile forces and take a more aggressive and violent approach to combating international terrorism It won’t win the war, or even the battle, but it should at least make for an impressive display of military adventurism, produce a truckload of medals for American heroes, and make visible use of the billions of dollars in military expenditures the president has ordered at the cost of virtually every other federal government program. It will also, coincidentally, keep the military-industrial complex humming at full throttle for the foreseeable future. The Donald may be trying to distance himself from racists and isolationists, but he isn’t making nay moves towards peace, either. That would be bad.