The Afghanistan War After the Death of Osama Bin Laden

Now that the US achieved the long standing goal of capturing or killing the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, there is lots of debates in and out of Congress about ending the war in Afghanistan.

There are also debates about Afghanistan forming a coalition with the Taliban. Some experts are saying that since the death of Osama, the ties between the Taliban and Al Qaida have been broken. Others point to recent terrorist attacks in Afghanistan that the Taliban took credit for as revenge for the death of Osama.

Democratic Representative Hank Johnson of Georgia sent a letter to Obama stating his reasons for ending the Afghanistan war.

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?id=51420&letter_id=6720768591

Congress is questioning the current Afghanistan strategy.

http://www.congress.org/news/2011/05/04/congress_questions_afghan_strategy

Should we be supporting the Afghanistan government? I think our strategy should be based on the fact that the Taliban encourages and sponsors terrorist activity. Although the ties between Al Qaida and the Taliban may have been broken, Al Qaida is a fragmented organization of terrorists and some Al Qaida members may be part of the Taliban.

Our goal in Afghanistan should be to prevent any future government from sheltering terrorist groups planning another attack on the US. And no one can ensure that a Taliban ruled Afghanistan won't shelter terrorists; especially since the Taliban is a terrorist organization.

Another reason for remaining in Afghanistan is that when we leave, the terrorists and the Taliban will make their way across the border from Pakistan. The relations between Pakistan and the US have been badly damaged by the realization that some officials in Pakistan were obviously aware of Osama's location and did nothing about it.

Here is a letter from Democratic Representative Rick Larsen (WA) to Obama.

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?id=10416&letter_id=6825805456

I don't really know the winning strategy in Afghanistan; but I do know that we cannot risk another 9/11. I also know that we cannot afford the war on terror. And if we default on our national debt interest payments this year, we may not be able to depend on China to finance the war on terror.

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