STATEMENT FROM CHAIRMAN MENENDEZ FOLLOWING CLASSIFIED COMMITTEE BRIEFING ON AFGHANISTAN

[andym]

35. The alternative isn't only staying in Afghanistan forever

That is a strawman argument because it doesn't acknowledge any other possibilities. Though we were there for 20 years, we only tried a conventional nation-building approach in a region with a multitude of potentially incompatible cultures and social histories.

There are many possible alternatives once the situation there can be stabilized which will require the US troops, it's just a question of which might work. Everything from divvying up parts of Afghanistan among its neighbors like Pakistan (which uses the Taliban as surrogates) to encouraging the creation of tribal based regional countries. Perhaps encouraging large teams of volunteers from other Islamic countries to make Afghanistan a major charitable project.

An effective answer needs to come from the world community and people way smarter than me. A world conference on the problem is probably necessary-- perhaps sponsored by the UN.