From Bagram to Bauer
CMC's Colonel Fitch on Afghanistan, ROTC and the Second Surge
Paul Jeffrey
Last Updated: 1/21/10 Section: Features
After over eight years in Afghanistan, U.S. forces continue to struggle with a conflict involving religious, economic and nationalist forces that has now spanned over three decades. While NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan experienced initial success in their efforts to combat the Taliban regime, those successes seem in the distant past to many today. Over the years, insurgent groups such as the Taliban have adapted, evolving from conventional militaries seeking to control territory into subversive, less centralized movements employing asymmetrical warfare to frustrate efforts at nation-building. While the Taliban itself remains first and foremost a nationalistic organization, the conflict has also contributed to militaristic Pan-Islamic movements and the antagonism between the prodominantly-Christian West and the Islamic world.
The protracted nature of the conflict and rising costs have has already led to speculation about the depth of U.S. and European commitment to Afghanistan, and some polls show as few as 26% of Americans support increasing troop levels in Afghanistan. However, President Obama has pledged not to decrease troop levels in Afghanistan or issue a withdrawal order, and has recently announced plans to raise troop levels by as many as 30,000 as resources are shifted from Iraq. Without these increases, our commanding general there, General Stanley McChrystal, asserts that success in Afghanistan may be short lived.
Rather than provide a purely second hand analysis of the conflict and especially its relevance to CMC's ROTC program, the CI instead sought out the perspective of a veteran of the nation-building efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan: Lieutenant Colonel William Fitch, a professor in our ROTC program, has generously agreed to provide his own insight and evaluation of the conflict.
CI: Hello Colonel Fitch, thank you for speaking with us and providing your insight into a conflict that, overshadowed for so long, is once again at the forefront of our foreign policy. First, could you briefly describe your own background in the military, specifically your involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan?
The protracted nature of the conflict and rising costs have has already led to speculation about the depth of U.S. and European commitment to Afghanistan, and some polls show as few as 26% of Americans support increasing troop levels in Afghanistan. However, President Obama has pledged not to decrease troop levels in Afghanistan or issue a withdrawal order, and has recently announced plans to raise troop levels by as many as 30,000 as resources are shifted from Iraq. Without these increases, our commanding general there, General Stanley McChrystal, asserts that success in Afghanistan may be short lived.
Rather than provide a purely second hand analysis of the conflict and especially its relevance to CMC's ROTC program, the CI instead sought out the perspective of a veteran of the nation-building efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan: Lieutenant Colonel William Fitch, a professor in our ROTC program, has generously agreed to provide his own insight and evaluation of the conflict.
CI: Hello Colonel Fitch, thank you for speaking with us and providing your insight into a conflict that, overshadowed for so long, is once again at the forefront of our foreign policy. First, could you briefly describe your own background in the military, specifically your involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Be the first to comment on this story