By U.S. Rep. Tom Udall
New Mexico Democrat
This week marked the fifth anniversary of the commencement of the needless pre-emptive invasion of the nation of Iraq.
At the time, I voted against giving the president the authorization to commit our country to this wasteful war. I worried that it would undermine our broader foreign policy goals, divert attention from pressing domestic needs, and I feared that the aftermath would leave us in a precarious and dangerous position.
Today, this sad and solemn occasion requires us to reflect seriously upon the meanings and implications of this conflict, for history, for our nation, for ourselves as citizens, but most of all for the sake of the young men and women who have sacrificed their lives in the service to our country.
Today, much is being said about the incalculable cost of this Iraq war in human life and economic resources. But one of the most neglected consequences of the war has been what it has cost us in Afghanistan. Much of our early military and political successes there against the Taliban and al-Qaida immediately after 9/11 have been squandered because we "took our eye off the ball" and divided our attention and resources caused by the heedless invasion of Iraq and protracted conflict that has dragged on.
Following the attacks of 9/11, our nation rightly responded to those responsible by taking aim at the Taliban, Afghanistan's ruling government, and protector of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida. Within months, the Taliban and al-Qaida sanctuaries had been overrun. Al-Qaida and Taliban forces were forced to concentrate their forces in the Pakistan-border region, using an extensive complex of caves built in the mountainous region to hide and launch attacks.
By 2003, despite continuous battles, our military had made valuable gains against the Taliban and al-Qaida. It was at this point, however, that the president launched his offensive against Iraq.
Since that time, as many in the military and intelligence agencies have stated, at critical moments the Bush administration has diverted forces, personnel and intelligence resources from Afghanistan to Iraq.
As a result, the Taliban has reconstituted, revitalized, and retaken various regions of Afghanistan. The opium trade in Afghanistan— a major source of financing for al-Qaida and the Taliban— which President Hamid Karzai had been working to eradicate has again flourished. In fact, Afghani farmers have reaped record harvests in recent years.
As Karzai stated, with agreement from American intelligence sources, the security situation in Afghanistan has "definitely deteriorated."
President Bush promised a "Marshall Plan" for Afghanistan. Yet the country has received less assistance per capita than Bosnia or Kosovo following our military operations there. According to various sources, the $3.4 billion that has been spent per year on reconstruction in Afghanistan is less than half of what has been spent in Iraq.
I voted to authorize the war in Afghanistan because it was clear that Afghanistan was a failed state and had become a haven for failed ideas. The power vacuum that ensued in Afghanistan after the war with the Soviet Union from 1979 to 1989 was finally filled by the failed ideas of fundamentalist extremist Taliban government, which created a perfect environment for the failed ideas of al-Qaida.
Our early military and political successes in Afghanistan presented a vision of a viable future for the country. Now, the prospects for a successful Afghanistan hang in the balance.
Tragically, the glib expression "took our eye off the ball" masks the grim reality and grave strategic dangers facing us in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the implications for the success and security not only of their nations, but of ours.
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