Indifference in Quagmire

Democrats and Afghanistan

New Morning Zoo: Trump and the Mad Dog on KXRW The Shark

As part of his “Wag the Dog” operation to change the subject and distract from his explicitly outward racism, Donald Trump announced on Monday August 21, 2017 his new strategy for Afghanistan. While much of the media dialogue on the issue has revolved around Trump’s seeming obsession with keeping his plans secret, the heart of his strategy is effectively what Obama did in Afghanistan: send more troops and money and hope it doesn’t fall apart.

Numerous Democrats called for Trump to clarify his strategy. Steny Hoyer, the 2nd ranking Democrat in the house of representatives, asked Trump for “specific strategies” while New Hampshire’s Senator Maggie Hasan warned of “Afghanistan slipping backwards” if we DON’T send more troops.

Some Democrats are reacting to Trump’s No-Strategy Strategy announcement as a time to put their foot down on the issue of Afghanistan. “I am skeptical that the President’s ‘new strategy’ will achieve what the last 16 years could not,” said Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), calling for hearings on “accountability and transparency” from the Trump administration. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut made the case that the strategy was inoperable because so much of it relied on diplomatic work that can’t be done because the Trump administrations fired all the diplomats to the region.

This discussion of Afghanistan reveals two paths for the Democrats and others in a progressive coalition: vaguery or certainty. By asking for more clarity on Trump’s “vague” plan, these Democrats are legitimizing and empowering Republicans, as well as giving tacit approval of the occupation of Afghanistan.

There has been silence on the issue from the rest of the “rising stars” of the Democratic coalition. Both Bernie Sanders, the avuncular avatar of the socialist left, and Kamala Harris, the unwitting avatar of “how will breaking up the banks end racism” liberals have been silent on the issue of Afghanistan. Most likely neither will pay any kind of price for sitting this one out.

In general, there is a lacking of vision in the realm of foreign policy in the Democratic party, with an inability to articulate a universal vision beyond the tactical managing of a crumbling empire. Issues like Afghanistan and America’s variety of troop deployments don’t appear to be topics of much interest to an American electorate hardened by the disaster of Iraq and tragedy of Afghanistan.

Much of the apathy is justified, because as much as Trump has shown a proclivity towards those who are vicious and cruel both domestically and abroad, the Afghanistan plan announced Monday does not differ terribly from Obama’s. Neither Republican or Democratic presidents have taken the opportunity to radically change the US military operation in Afghanistan, allowing it to become a situation with no good answers.