Stephen M. Walt: We will lose in Iraq and Afghanistan

Harvard University Professor Stephen M. Walt writes on his Foreign Policy blog:

The truth is that the United States and its allies lost the war in Iraq and are going to lose the war in Afghanistan. There: I said it. By “lose,” I mean we will eventually withdraw our military forces without having achieved our core political objectives, and with our overall strategic position weakened. We did get Osama bin Laden — finally — but that was the result of more energetic intelligence and counter-terrorism work in Pakistan itself and had nothing to do with the counterinsurgency we are fighting next door. U.S. troops have fought courageously and with dedication, and the American people have supported the effort for many years. But we will still have failed because our objectives were ill-chosen from the start, and because the national leadership (and especially the Bush administration) made some horrendous strategic judgments along the way.

Read the entire article here.

Jasmin Ramsey

Jasmin Ramsey is a journalist based in Washington, DC.

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2 Comments

  1. Gee, it took him this long to figure it out? Or was he just looking for something to post on a late summer day?

  2. Jon, he does go on to ask if/when we will learn the limits of hard power, and stop deluding ourselves. But, that bold admission is not so bold.

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