http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-983448.mp3
Albany, NY – In today's Academic Minute, Dr. Dan Caldwell of Pepperdine University outlines the relationship between the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dr. Dan Caldwell is Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Pepperdine University's Seaver College. Previously, he served for three years on active duty as an officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve and held positions at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and the Executive Office of the President in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Chair of the Council's Academic Outreach Initiative.
Dr. Dan Caldwell - Iraq and Afghanistan: One War or Two?
Numerous politicians, journalists, and policy analysts have portrayed the Afghanistan and Iraq wars as separate and independent; however, this is not the case. They are integrally related.
The United States attacked Afghanistan in October 2001 with a total US force on the ground in Afghanistan of a little more than 400 Special Forces and CIA operatives working with Afghan Northern Alliance soldiers and American airpower. These forces were able to destroy the Al Qaeda terrorist training camps and overthrow the Taliban government.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld believed that the "light footprint" approach employed in Afghanistan confirmed his view that a "revolution in military affairs" had occurred. When the U.S. invaded Iraq in March 2003, Rumsfeld over-ruled many generals and sent in an invasion force that was less than half the size most generals advocated. In 2006, the United States was on the verge of defeat in Iraq, and the U.S. snatched victory from the jaws of defeat by recruiting Sunni tribesmen and by sending another 30,000 American troops to Iraq.
While the U.S. was engaged in Iraq, it did not pay attention to Afghanistan, and by 2009, the U.S. was on the verge of defeat. President Obama chose to adopt pages from the Iraq war playbook and sent 30,000 additional American troops and sought an Afghan analog to the Iraq Sunni tribesmen.
The ultimate results of both the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are unclear, but one thing is certain: these two wars have been integrally related.