We invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 with the purposes of bringing peace to a war-stricken country and preventing another 9/11–scale attack on U.S. soil. Fifteen years, thousands of lives, and hundreds of billions of dollars later, the Taliban still controls roughly half the country. There is a concern that the Afghan government could fall by October, thereby plunging the region into a security crisis. There are currently fewer than 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan and they’re equipped merely for train-and-advise roles, though more and more they are being compelled to confront the Taliban directly.
Clearly the current number of U.S. troops is insufficient to keep the Taliban at bay, leaving us with one path forward: increase our military presence in Afghanistan.
Michael Maloof, a former senior security policy analyst in the office of the secretary of defense said, “I think there is a tag-team effort going on between ISIS and the Taliban [in Afghanistan].” For example, if Afghan forces went to Helmand Province in the south to confront ISIS fighters, the Taliban move in and hit Kunduz in the north. Because there are so few Afghan troops, they’d be forced to withdraw to deal with the Taliban, allowing ISIS to move right back in to the area previously secured by the Afghans.
It’s critical that we stay for the duration in Afghanistan to help ensure long-term stability in the country and to curb extremist ideology from gaining a further foothold. The Taliban in Afghanistan are adaptable and maintain a close relationship with the TTP, Pakistan’s branch of the Taliban, who form a kind of support network for the mainstream Taliban in Afghanistan.
Both ISIS and the Taliban have already proven their ability to attack Kabul. Furthermore, a former Pentagon and numerous intelligence officials claim that any further U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan could lead to the fall of the capital city of Kabul within 3 days.
If Kabul falls from lack of U.S. support, we would not only be creating a quagmire in Afghanistan, but also a potential threat to our own national security. We cannot afford to do anything but scale up our military’s presence in the country until the Taliban are permanently expelled and the Afghan forces are able to stand on their own.