Hawks Seek Massive Escalation, Open-Ended War in Afghanistan

16 Years Into Occupation, US Still Seeks Something That 'Looks Like Victory'

That more US troops are headed to Afghanistan, some 16 years into the invasion and occupation, is a foregone conclusion, with commander Gen. John Nicholson seeking “a few thousand more troops” in testimony to Congress, and seemingly all recommendations out of the Pentagon seeking escalations of varying sizes.

Hawks outside of the chain of command, however, are seeking even bigger military commitments to the conflict. Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Senior Fellow Stephen Biddle, formerly a part of assessment teams for Gens. Stanley McChrystal and David Petraeus, is arguing for the US to send “around 100,000” ground troops to Afghanistan.

Even 100,000 troops isn’t a panacea for the conflict, with Biddle saying only that such a huge number of troops could convince the Taliban to reach “a settlement that looked like victory by us.” Even the appearance of victory is a lot more than the US has now, of course.

Biddle conceded a 100,000 troop surge was probably not going to happen, but saw the only alternative the US “middling through” until Congress either defunds the war or the Afghan military loses outright.

Former Petraeus adviser Michael Pregent backed the calls for more troops and also argued that a key aspect of the Afghan War would be to find a way for the US to keep troops in Afghanistan permanently, saying the Taliban is too patient for anything short of that, because they’ll “just wait you out.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.