6/3/2019 Ariann Adams - Blog Post 4 Potential Solution(s) - 861348 - Google Docs

Name: Ariann Adams

Blog Post #: 4

Since 2001, the war in Afghanistan has become the longest running military operation in U.S history. The

U.S is involved in a “military effort” in Afghanistan to make sure that the Kabul government is not overthrown by

an “insurgency.” This made it difficult for the Bush administration and Obama administration to find a way of

Afghanistan, but it wasn't that easy to just leave and declare victory. As U.S troops withdrew from war, the

Taliban became impossible to defeat. Our presence in Afghanistan breaks U.S foreign policy which ties specific

resources to an area of “limited national interest.” Every year the U.S is spending $45 billion on aid and security in

Afghanistan, more than double of Afghanistan's GDP.

Do we have a strategic plan to leave Afghanistan? According to an article written by The Atlantic,

President Trump has decided to take it upon himself to end the war. He said that “military power alone will not

end the war” his goal is to “achieve a political reconciliation, not a military victory.” The negotiation will include

the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan within eighteen months in exchange that the Taliban won't

commit any terrorist attacks to “emanate” from Afghanistan. Former U.S Ambassador Ryan Crocker argued that

the U.S should “negotiate something that at least looks like a political agreement rather than an all out surrender.”

The Taliban controls half the geographic districts in the country, settling for anything less than an all out surrender

wouldn’t be smart. Think about it seven of the parliamentary candidate have been killed, two kidnapped and

elections postponed for three years because of their violence. Looking at this negotiation positively and negatively,

its safe to say that the Taliban’s will keep their end of the bargain to get rid of the coalition forces. Because the

war will not be over in Afghanistan once the U.S leave, the Afghans who believed the U.S would stand by them

till the end will be killed or “conceded.”

In conclusion, this post was important to because it gave a lot of information on who was trying to aid the

issue. My next post will be my action plan. Instead of talking about how others tried to solve the issue, I will

discuss how I think the issue should be solved. I’m going to create my own change to how this war should end by

initially creating a plan of action. The plan will be designed to help guide me in my research for solving the issue.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ydP2UtYYRE9r_E1wWp2cKuj76AMczcGizlRPGd60HsE/edit 1/2
6/3/2019 Ariann Adams - Blog Post 4 Potential Solution(s) - 861348 - Google Docs

Moving Forward, I want to know more about Trump’s negotiation plan. I want to know more details and how he

plans to get Taliban on board with this plan. The information I found today will be useful as a guide for when I am

creating my own plan. Possibly helping me to create my own negotiation.

Articles I used for my research:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/its-time-to-get-out-of-afghanistan-heres-how/2018/08/02/afe21708-969

1-11e8-810c-5fa705927d54_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d7c286a86509

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/how-end-war-afghanistan/582310/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ydP2UtYYRE9r_E1wWp2cKuj76AMczcGizlRPGd60HsE/edit 2/2