After 9 years of combat, 1,000 soldiers have died in Afghanistan. When I discovered this number, I desperately wanted to be shocked and angry, however, I couldn’t muster the emotion. I’m a history major; I frequently read about thousands of soldiers dying in just one battle—only a thousand dying in nine years, then, seems like a great accomplishment in comparison. But with President Obama’s announcement in December that he plans to send 30,000 troops in Afghanistan, the war is growing larger by the day and will soon lead to even more military and civilian deaths.

Despite the fact that the number of newly-deployed and soon-to-be deployed troops is smaller than the increases the military originally requested, many liberals feel betrayed by Obama’s decision. During Winter Break, about a week after Obama’s speech, I went to Berkeley, and saw anti-Obama bumper stickers everywhere, many sounding just as angry and bitter as the anti-Bush posters and bumper stickers that were rampant in the Bay Area for years. Tea Party members and far right Republicans have been mocking and insulting Obama with signs and bumper stickers for months now, but the stickers in Berkeley weren’t protesting the growing budget deficit (which was inherited from Bush), implying Obama isn’t an American citizen (which is a ridiculous disproven claim) or accusing Obama of being a socialist (yet another ridiculous claim). The bumper stickers angrily protested the troop increases, even drawing comparisons between Bush’s gradual military expansion and Obama’s announcement.

So what can Obama do?

The most obvious solution is withdrawal. In the same speech announcing troop increases, Obama asked NATO allies to consider increasing their troops too. Despite this, the Dutch government recently announced it will withdraw almost 2,000 troops from Afghanistan by December. According to Time magazine, “European nations are growing increasingly hostile to the war in Afghanistan, and many have dragged their feet over Obama’s appeals for more troops to join the surge.” Many argue that if the United States, or even countries like the Netherlands, pulled out all their troops right now, it would leave Afghanistan in a state of chaos and make the United States and its allies look irresponsible.

However, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are already some of the longest and most controversial in American history. Troops were originally sent to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban, particularly Osama bin Laden, and avenge the 9/11 terrorist attack. But it’s been 9 long years, bin Laden is in hiding in Pakistan and none of the military’s goals have really been accomplished. March 2009 CNN polls indicated that 64% of Democrats and 51% of the country oppose the war in Afghanistan. A year later, these numbers only continue to rise.

Similarly to Obama, President Lyndon Johnson infamously ordered large troop increases throughout the Vietnam War. “When Johnson assumed the presidency, there were 16,000 troops in Vietnam. When he left there were more than 500,000,” historian William Chafe wrote. The large number of troops, however, was a contributing factor in the quagmire of Vietnam; the war dragged on with the Viet Cong outnumbering and overpowering the United States no matter how many new troops were brought in.

The main reason why we study history is to learn from the past or else we are doomed to repeat it. Despite Johnson’s passion for social reform programs like Head Start, Medicare, the Civil Rights Act/Voting Rights Act and the War on Poverty, Johnson’s legacy is marred by the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement which shouted chants like “hey hey LBJ, how many boys have you killed today?” While Obama’s approval ratings have dropped considerably since his inauguration a little less than a year ago, he still has time to get us out of Afghanistan and keep his legacy from going the way of Johnson’s. Good luck, Obama.

Published in : Perspectives, Volume 101: Issue 24