How Not to Withdraw from Afghanistan

Last week, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta stated publicly for the first time that the United States would end combat operations in Afghanistan by mid-2013. While the defense secretary argued that U.S. forces would follow the model of the American withdrawal from Iraq, it seems more likely that it will repeat the mistakes made by the Soviets during their withdrawal from Afghanistan nearly 25 years ago. Let's be clear: deciding to withdraw from Afghanistan is not the problem. There are many legitimate arguments to be made for the U.S. to have pulled out of Afghanistan long ago -- such as after the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. The main problem is the way in which the withdrawal is being conducted by the United States. Its activities will do nothing to advance the American role in Afghanistan or around the world. On the contrary, it may ultimately result in further coalition casualties, and embolden the Taliban, Iran, Pakistan, and al Qaeda.

Read the entire article here.

Withdrawing From Afghanistan

Pressure is growing for the United States to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan. The assassination of Osama bin Laden gave President Obama a passing but welcome reprieve from criticism and low poll ratings, yet it also led to a growing chorus of Americans who are urging the administration to pull out large numbers of U.S. forces from the region.

Read more in The Huffington Post

Withdrawing Honorably from Iraq

"You have offered us independence; we never asked for it, nor dreamed of such a thing 'til you put the idea into our heads. For hundreds of years, we have lived in a state as far removed from independence as it is possible to conceive; now [that] we have asked for it, you imprison us." Those were the words uttered by an Iraqi sheikh, not in 2011, but around 1920, when the mighty British Empire ruled his land. A rebellion had erupted, and the British government came under considerable pressure from its own population to withdraw. Although order was ultimately restored, the message remained: find a way out of Iraq...

Read more in The Huffington Post