The U.S. engagement in Afghanistan is now in its ninth year. It is also without any doubt the highest foreign policy priority for the U.S. administration. Yet understanding our engagement there seems to have become more convoluted as time goes by. Part of this confusion comes from the political leadership both in Washington and in the European capitals where strategies remain opaque and doubtful to the common person.
However, increasingly, the jumble and haze about Afghanistan is now created by the so-called experts. These experts, or pundits, use words like “nation-building," “exit-strategy," “people-centric," “non-kinetic," “pashtunwali," “shuras," “Sharia," “tribal," “sub-tribal," etc. By stringing them together, experts believe they will achieve insight and clarity. However, the scale, gravity, and intensity of the conflict in Afghanistan and the region certainly require a much broader debate than just among experts. Surely, the American public deserves better. They need to understand how and why their country is so deeply involved in this conflict. However, they also should be wary of certain experts clouding the debate.
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