The U. S. Politics of Global Conflicts
This paper is based on the United States’ engagement in the Afghanistan War. The U.S. has been involved in the Afghanistan war since 2001, after the 9/11 incident, which was the first and the most devastating terrorist attack in the United States. The 9/11 incident prompted the then American president George W. Bush to declare a global war on terrorism. In his speech a day after the attack, George W. Bush defined the attack as “an act of war” and pledged not to differentiate between those who executed the attacks and those who protected the culprits. Bush expressed his expectation of unalloyed and full support from all U.S. allies against its enemies. This marked the beginning of the war against terrorism, and unfortunately against Afghanistan which was sheltering the Taliban whose majority were members of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group. The American engagement in Afghanistan has resulted in the formation of various foreign policies meant to facilitate the United States’ success in fighting global terrorism, especially those engineered by the Taliban group (Begum, 2019). This paper discusses the involvement of the United States and other international organizations in the Afghanistan War.
The Role of the Legislative Branch in the Afghanistan War
The U.S. Congress has played the greatest role in enacting policies that support the U.S. government in its international engagement, especially concerning the use of the military. In 2001, after the presidential declaration of the global war on terrorism, the two legislative houses; Senate and Congress passed a bill to authorize the military force used in the fight against terrorism. The authorization clearly showed that the U.S. president was permitted to employ appropriate and necessary force over persons, organizations, and nations he determines aided, planned, committed, or authorized the 9/11 terrorist attack or that harbored such individuals or organizations as a way of preventing similar future attach in the U.S. The congress also supported the Afghanistan war through budget allocation. Congress has the main role in budget allocation. This means it determines the amount of money to be allocated to the department of defense.
Congress demonstrated support by allocating enough funds to facilitate the stay of the U.S. military in Afghanistan and also for additional troops when the need is and for the purchase of necessary equipment, weapons, and resources (Thomas, 2019). In my opinion, congress was less involved in this war. The congress should be engaged before major premeditated moves of strategies, especially bombing specific places and formation of some treaties. The legislative branch should evaluate some of these moves and authorize only those that are necessary and unlikely to cause major negative repercussions in the country’s internal security. Besides, the legislative body should also be engaged in deciding on military withdrawal before they are implemented.
The Role of the Executive Branch in the Afghanistan War
The U.S. executive branch played the main war of initiating the U.S. war against Afghanistan in 2001. In his first speech after the 9/11 attack in 2001, American president George W. Bush made a declaration of waging war against global terrorism and those who shelter the terrorist. Bush articulated the first terror fighting a policy that equated those who sheltered terrorists with the terrorists. He also expressed the need for a friendly Kabul regime to support the U.S. in its goal of dismantling the Al-Qaeda group. With congress authorization, the executive body launched the first military attack in Afghanistan in October 2001 to aid the Afghanistan forces that were fighting the Taliban and to stop the Taliban using Afghanistan as its terrorism base. The executive branch kept on adding the number of troops in Afghanistan to enhance the fight (Goldsmith, Horiuchi & Inoguchi, 2005).
The executive branch took the main responsibility of making decisions on the Afghanistan engagement including additional forces, the length of stay, advanced attack among other things. For instance, in 2009, Obama declared Afghanistan mission as a matter of priority and deployed a total of 51000 extra U.S. forces to Afghanistan and in 2014, he reduced them to 100000 officers to 34000. Besides, the executive branch played the main role of making instant decisions; in a state of urgency, where the president with help of his security and foreign policy advisors, makes instant policies especially on countermeasures for Taliban advancements against the U.S. military in the combat region. The executive branch was also involved in strategizing on the Osama Bin Laden elimination attack, which was a success. The president was also used in authorizing special attacks during the U.S. military engagements in the country. The U.S. executive body also took the main role of making a treaty and other bilateral agreements in Afghanistan to create peace and end terrorism completely (Thomas, 2019). The U.S. executive branch was highly engaged in the Afghanistan war. Although one would not recommend the reduction of its engagement, independent engagement without congress approval especially on special attacks should be reduced.
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The Involvement of the U.N. and Other International Organizations in Afghanistan War
The U.S. administration sought the support of the United Nations (U.N.) for military action against the terrorists and its supporters shortly after the 9/11 attack. This request was approved a day after the attack by the Security Council Resolution by expressing the council’s willingness to adopt employ all necessary measures to react to the 9/11 attack. This means the U.N. offered full support to the U.S. in terms of military and financing in the fight against the Al-Qaeda group. The other involved international Organization was NATO. NATO initiated Article V of its Charter providing total support to the U.S. where all its members were to be engaged. Since then, NATO, the UN, and the United State military joined hands to fight against global terrorism. Other than military support in the field, the UN and NATO played the main role of training Afghan combatants who were fighting the Taliban group. The three also collaborated in equipping the Afghan military with the right war resources to enhance their ability to fight and defeat the Taliban (Begum, 2019).
The two organizations have played part in influencing the U.S. to make a major decision regarding the number of military officers to be deployed or withdrawn from the region. This is because, the two contribute their military officers, and their number contributes to the total officers required to handle a situation. Fewer numbers from them initiated an increase in U.S. officers and vice versa. Moreover, their main role also influenced the role that the U.S. would adopt. For instance, NATO and the UN focused on training the Afghanistan combatant. An increase in Afghanistan trained combatants reduced the need for excess military forces from the U.S. and hence influencing such decisions or policies. UN and NATO are highly important in such international engagement since they always offer military support, contribute to making treats, and in training officers from the affected country. Their contribution plays a great role in attaining peace and sustaining a peaceful situation after the way by ensuring that the affected country has well trained military officers to protect the sovereignty of a country (Jabeen, Mazhar & Goraya, 2010).
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