An Untenable War

Jeffrey Gettleman's piece on counter-terrorism in Somalia raises an important point - what is America's over-arching strategy? Reflecting on the Battle of Mogadishu (aka Black Hawk Down) and the American withdrawal that followed, Gettleman writes:

But American policy has pivoted since 1993 to another question: What happens when we don’t get involved?

The experience in Somalia speaks to that concern as well — to the problems of ignoring any patch of ungoverned territory, especially in the Muslim world, whose anarchy might tempt the arrival of the likes of Al Qaeda.

The reality of the world we live in is that there are going to be many places that fit the above description - either entire states, like present day Somalia, or portions of states, like present day Pakistan. This isn't something we can necessarily fix at a cost that would be acceptable or even commensurate with the threat. Instead, it's something we need to monitor and manage.

But there is also a narrative developing that all these troubled states need is some American attention and resources and all will be well. How many times have we heard someone bemoaning America's "withdrawal" from Afghanistan after the Soviet defeat. Such talk makes it sound as if there was a plausible and iron-clad mechanism by which to ensure that post-civil war Afghanistan would be put firmly on the road to modernity, when in fact we know no such thing.

(AP Photos)