Counter-Productive

During his address to the students at West Point, President Obama stated this: “The future of Afghanistan is inextricably linked to the future of its neighbor, Pakistan. In the nearly eight years since 9/11, al Qaeda and its extremist allies have moved across the border to the remote areas of the Pakistani frontier. This almost certainly includes al Qaeda's leadership: Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. They have used this mountainous terrain as a safe haven to hide, to train terrorists, to communicate with followers, to plot attacks, and to send fighters to support the insurgency in Afghanistan. For the American people, this border region has become the most dangerous place in the world.”

Basically, our president is stating that Pakistan is currently harboring most of the terrorists we wish to be fighting, and the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan is important to protect because of this.

With this in mind, Zaid Hamid, head of Brass Tacks, a think-tank based in Pakistan, said in February of 2009, "The troops surge is what I would call, a historical and military fallacy. It is not going to work [...] The stationing of additional troops on the Pak-Afghan border is expected to create further instability in Pakistan’s border areas. The AfPak doctrine that lays the blame for the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan on Pakistan’s tribal areas would create further destabilization. It is bound to increase friction with the Pakistani security forces as the expected incursions across the border into Pakistan by coalition troops are likely to result in an open confrontation."

Hamid goes on to say that by considering the AfPak border dangerous, we are setting up Pakistan as an enemy, not an ally, and this could create further friction. We have a low enough approval rating over there. The surge is not going to help. A poll of Afghan public opinion released last week by ABC News, the BBC, and ARD said that a slight majority of Afghans view the U.S. unfavorably. In 2005, by comparison, the U.S. garnered an 83 percent favorable rating.

The most pivotal border that our president hopes to protect with this troop surge is actually going to be further weakened. Thus, President Obama's plan for increasing troops in Afghanistan will not only fail, but actually be counter-productive to our goals.