Blog #2 – “Pull out in Afghanistan”

2/12/2013

Earlier, a couple of weeks ago, Barack Obama and Afghanistan President, Hamid Karzai, discussed the United States’ evacuation plan for 2013. Obama, after careful consideration of political interest and military requirement, has planned the removal of 34,000 U.S. troops by 2014. Not only is this of obvious military concern to Afghan powers, but it also concern the newly formed Afghan middle-class.

In an article by Graham Bowley, New York Times contributor, the expanding urbanization and industrialization seen in cities across the country, especially Kabul, seem to be a mere bubble, waiting to pop at any moment as soon as U.S. military residency stops. Is the U.S. military the key to modernizing Afghanistan?

Kabul native, Haji Safiullah, believes that the American military will not leave Afghanistan altogether for many years. Safiullah owns three pharmacies and has invested more than $1 million into various businesses. He believes that the international community has invested too much to avert its military gaze, yet is also aware of the security and economic collapse that would take place if it did.

I thought this particular issue, regarding American military evacuation from Afghanistan, to be particularly interesting, because it seems that the modernization of Afghanistan depends on strong military presence from outside forces (United States and the UN). It has very much become a campaign of maintaining peace, rather than an aggressive campaign against al Queda and weapons of mass distruction.

 

 

Clyde Lovelady
SOC 202
2/12/2013
Blog 2