Update: Dr. Milind Thakar was interviewed in the WISH-TV studios Tuesday and also talked with Fox59 television and WIBC/Network Indiana radio.
President Obama’s decision to send more troops to Afghanistan will displease many of his supporters, but it is the only responsible course for the United States to take right now, says an international relations expert at the University of Indianapolis.
A sudden U.S. pullout would leave a dangerous vacuum similar to that of 1988, when a Soviet troop withdrawal and a loss of American aid resulted in civil war that brought the militant fundamentalist Taliban to power, says UIndy Associate Professor Milind Thakar, an expert on South Asian issues. (Although Obama will not reveal his decision publicly until tonight’s speech at West Point, early reports indicate at least 30,000 additional troops will be deployed.)
However, an increased U.S. military presence alone will not bring long-term stability to Afghanistan or the broader region, he says. The hurdles include the lack of national identity among Afghanistan’s many ethnic groups, the lack of a credible political or economic system, and the instability of neighboring Pakistan, which is increasingly a haven for extremists but is resistant to international pressure because of its nuclear arsenal.
“More troops may help secure Afghanistan for a short while and provide breathing space for much-needed initiatives that could lead to a more stable country,” Thakar says. “But that strategy needs to be augmented by more developmental aid, which reduces the attractiveness of radical movements, and a more forceful attitude toward Pakistan, which was visible in Hillary Clinton’s sharp remarks to the Pakistani leadership last week.”
