How Applying Lessons from our Successes and Failures in Iraq Can Shape a Winning Strategy in Afghanistan
by Lydia Khalil
Download the full article: Iraq the Model?
"This was a reckless intervention and no one has ever succeeded in occupying this land." "We are sacrificing young lives in the name of an unachievable mission." "This conflict has no end in sight." No, this is not the prevailing mood on Afghanistan. These were comments bandied about just a couple of years ago when the United States was faced with the same uncertainty about how to move forward in Iraq. The tone in 2006-2007 was much the same as it is now, as the United States is again facing an unpopular war with questionable ties to its national interests.
The U.S.'s experiences in Iraq should not be ignored as the Obama administration considers what is to be done in Afghanistan and attempts to answer the same questions-- "Do we stay the course?" "Do we reinforce our efforts?" Or "do we scale back our objectives?"
Before critics can cry that Iraq and Afghanistan are too different to draw comparisons, let us acknowledge the differences. Afghanistan is a largely rural, tribal culture with low levels of development. Iraq is more urban, has more resources, a history of highly centralized government and relatively high levels of development. Both countries have their own histories with outside powers.
Context matters, but these differences do not take away from the fact that there are broad lessons that can be applied that go beyond the specifics of each nation and the precise circumstances of international involvement with them.
Download the full article: Iraq the Model?
Lydia Khalil is an international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. She was a governance advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad in 2003-2004 and a former counterterrorism analyst with the New York Police Department.
