by Mark Murphy

Created on: March 26, 2009

I believe we should be concentrating our main efforts in Afghanistan, not Iraq. To put things more clearly, I believe America should be concentrating more of its fighting forces in whatever region our intelligence tells us Osama Bin Laden is at. Currently, sources indicate he is likely located in the area of the Pakistan/Afghanistan borders. This isn't to say I think we should completely abandon our efforts in Iraq, but I'll address that a little later.

Our primary duty is to find Osama and bring him to justice, whether that be a quick bullet to the back of the head or a long trial with its ensuing results. Iraq, having a secondary importance, should be a secondary objective. Somewhere along the way, we've turned around a little and have our priorities mixed up.

Whether you feel that President Bush was mistaken or not for conducting the war in Iraq, most everyone feels we are justified having troops in Afghanistan. The attacks of 9/11 occurred prior to any credible issues we had with the Iraqis or Baath Party, making them the first issue to attend to. American military doctrine says that our armed forces should be able to fight two major wars on different fronts as well as conduct a few lesser confrontations. Unfortunately, some stray problems seem to have cropped up between the drawing board and the battlefield. Some of these issues include prolonged fighting leading to battle fatigue, difficult to find opponents, a growing desire for isolationism and ever-weakening stomach for fighting and collateral damage.

Dividing our forces for a short period of time, perhaps a year or two, is both acceptable and viable. This is especially true with regards to standing, uniformed armies as opponents. Prolonged battle against two different, although similar, enemies who don't wear uniforms and have the ability to disappear into the general population is something very different. We can't simply strike at a central point or destroy a nerve center and make our foes capitulate this time. Instead, we must carpet their lands like hoards of invading ants and explore every house and crack in the earth for hidden enemies.

For this type of war, we need more boots on the ground, no matter what ground. Some say if we pull out of Iraq, the country will implode and be worse than before. Insurgents will grow and thrive and all we've worked for will be lost. I agree with this assessment completely. It's understood that the Iraqi police and military are not 100% efficient in their new roles and that we can't abandon them. We can still leave a sizable contingent of troops there to continue mopping up, training and advising for the foreseeable future. We can also lean on our allies, NATO and the U.N. to pitch in and provide peace-keeping forces. This would allow us to pull the main bulk of our forces out and help out in Afghanistan. Once we've saturated Afghanistan with our troops, finding Bin Laden should get a lot easier.

There's an old Indian saying that states if you chase two rabbits, you will lose both of them. We must follow one path until the job is completed, only then moving to the next. Dividing our forces, we can only prolong our problems.

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