War Is Boring

Ted Rall’s Alternative Plan for Afghanistan

07.12.09

Categorie: Afghanistan, Comics, David Axe |

by DAVID AXE

Ted Rall, a cartoonist and columnist, covered the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan and wrote an excellent memoir about the experience. Now an interviewer has asked Rall what he would do to “win” the Afghan war. Rall’s response:

So at this point, I would say we’re going to separate ourselves from Hamid Karzai’s regime. We’re not going to intervene in Afghan politics.

But we’re gonna come in, we’re gonna pave a lot of roads; we’re going to string a lot of electricity and telephone wires for you; we’re gonna dig a lot of wells; we’re gonna have some water pipelines; and then when it’s all done, we’re just gonna leave. And you guys do what you need to do, and if the Taliban come back to power, we’ll have diplomatic relations with them too. Like, really, it’s your country, and we’re sorry that we’ve contributed over the course of 25 years, to destroying it. So this is gonna be our small little penance and now we’re outta here.

We’d do it quickly. Two years. And that’s what I would do. If we did that, over and over, in other countries, I think you would see the tide of resentment really turn. You would see a lot of the hostility go away.

Now, will there always be militant Islamists who hate the United States? Sure. But what you’re gonna change is the fence-sitters, the moderates, the people who could go either way, who are the vast majority. Those are the people whose hearts and minds you need to win. You’re only going to do that with generosity, without strings attached.

(Art: Ted Rall)