Why a troop surge in Afghanistan is a terrible idea

Angry Planet

Matthew Gault

War, Politics, Conflict, Government, History, News

4.3 • 882 Ratings

🗓️ 31 May 2017

⏱️ 31 minutes

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Summary

How many soldiers does America need to turn the tide in Afghanistan? The Taliban controls half the country and continues to gain ground. The Pentagon and generals in the field want U.S. President Donald Trump to send an additional 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers to Afghanistan to help win the war. But we’ve been here before. In 2009, Stanley McChrystal famously requested a troop surge and got it. In the long run, an extra 30,000 soldiers didn’t matter. This week on War College, journalist and author Douglas Wissing tells us why he thinks a troop surge in Afghanistan a terrible idea. Wissing has embedded with U.S. forces in Afghanistan three times in the past 16 years. He’s written two books on the country and he’s not optimistic about America’s long-term military prospects in a war that’s almost two decades old. By Matthew Gault Produced by Bethel Habte

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Love this podcast.
0:02.0	Support this show through the A-cast supporter feature.
0:05.0	It's up to you how much you give,
0:07.0	and there's no regular commitment.
0:09.0	Just click the link in the show description to support now.
0:20.0	The views expressed on this podcast are those of the participants, not of Reuters News. When we invaded in 2001, Afghanistan was a basket case at the bottom of virtually every human development
0:26.4	indices.
0:27.9	It's 16 years later we've spent a hundred and seventeen billion dollars.
0:31.9	It remains at the bottom of virtually every human development
0:35.8	indices. You know, and so doing more of the same adding more soldiers, spending
0:41.1	more money, doing more nation-building building that's not going to work
0:44.8	this is a lost war
0:47.0	you're listening to Reuters War College, a discussion of the world in conflict, focusing
0:58.6	on the stories behind the front lines. Hello and welcome to war college.
1:07.0	Hello and welcome to war college.
1:12.0	I'm your host Matthew Galt. My guest today is journalist
1:15.4	Douglas Wissing. He's here today to talk to us about Afghanistan, America's longest
1:20.4	and least reported war and also the subject of two books by Mr. Wissing, the latest of which is
1:26.1	called Hopeless but Optimistic. Doug, thank you so much for joining us.
1:30.8	Thank you. Glad to be with you again, Matthew.
1:33.0	All right, so Afghanistan is remarkably back in the news.
1:36.3	U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly considering a troop search.
	...

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