A Letter to President Obama about Afghanistan and Pakistan

President Barack Obama,

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500

April 30, 2009

Honorable President Obama:

A part of American disengagement appears to be to divert troops from Iraq to Afghanistan and it is to this issue that I as an American wish to express certain concerns.

It’s hard to conceive that Afghanistan will be controlled by force, given the geographical and tribal challenges. At the time when the Russians were defeated in Afghanistan, they had about 130,000 troops there. Further, the more mistakes we continue to make in terms of killing innocent civilians, the more enemies we create, as has been the case in the past.  The chances of duplicating the failed advice and strategies that created the debacle in Iraq are great.  I urge you to be cautious and not to fall under the sway of advice and planning that pretends to predict results without understanding the culture of this region. 

In your first trip abroad to meet with NATO members, you discovered that the commitment of these nations was very low, only offering token support or lip service to effort in Afghanistan, meaning we will have to carry the heaviest burden.  If that is the case, the consequences may be more than America can endure. 

While we struggle to maintain Afghanistan through a coalition, I want to reaffirm your statement that the primary focus for America and the West should be on nuclear Pakistan.  Pakistan has been essentially an unstable country and poses more threats to the world’s security than Afghanistan because of its nuclear capability.  What happened in the Swat valley where the Taliban enforced their sharia law after forcing the government to accept their terms should be taken as a wake up call that the Taliban are gaining momentum in their fight against the Pakistani government.  The Swat valley has been a success story for them and has emboldened them to press further.

Maintaining Afghanistan while protecting Pakistan from radical religious rule should be the main goal of the American led allied forces.  This would save a lot of precious American lives as well as the equally precious lives of other nationalities because if Pakistan fell into the hands of radical religious people, that group would control its nuclear capabilities. Considering the mentality of suicide bombing among radical extremists, the world should not believe that they would not hesitate to use such a devastating weapon if they deem they have to.

The idea of ending the war in Iraq is a practical approach considering the fact that Iraq supposedly will be operating under a form of democratic governance.  Considering Maliki’s behavior, however, Iraq may be on its way back to autocratic rule and the same policies which failed Iraq. And as you are aware of the Kurdish plight in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey, while America has direct influence over Iraq and Turkey, please use your influence to ensure the social, cultural, and political rights of the Kurds, and encourage Iran and Syria to stop oppressing their Kurdish populations. I pray for your success.

Sincerely yours,

Kirmanj Gundi

Associate Professor