Yesterday was a day for collecting quotes.
John Bolton, one of George Bush Junior’s crew, a neoconservative icon who was there at the start of this Afghan adventure, was interviewed on Radio 4. There was much truth in what he said, such as Trump and Biden being equally to blame for the current palaver. Can’t argue with “It makes us look like we’re suckers”. But one big thing stuck: “We weren’t in Afghanistan to do a favour for the people. We were there… to protect America and our allies”.
Are we really that ignorant? People don’t wilfully allow lunatics to set up shooting ranges and bomb factories next door; it takes social disorder, and that can’t be solved when the peoples’ lives are too desperate to. They need to have the time to think about and believe in their future. When people are wealthy and comfortable they don’t elect dictators or start civil wars, or allow their society let these things happen. If you want there to be no failed states where terrorist groups base themselves you need to make sure the states work. This isn’t a quick and easy job, it takes time and it takes money. Twenty years to educate generations, build the institutions of a civil society and an economy to support them seems optimistic. But is it worth it? The US reckons it’s spent $1 trillion fighting in Afghanistan. But estimates for the September 11 attack costs start at $2 trillion (without the wars).
Thirty minutes later Major Richard Streatfeild, who kept an audio diary during his stationing there, was on. He demolished Bolton by quoting Sun Tzu to ridicule his argument that “they didn’t defeat us, we walked away”. When a superpower’s National Security Advisor has a Major quote Sun Tzu against him you know he’s beaten.
Then I read the FT. Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerian President and no advocate of freedom and democracy, had a column. He argued that terrorism follows from poverty, and that poor countries don’t need arms they need infrastructure to support economies to protect against it. “Africans need not swords but ploughshares to defeat terror… the boots we need on the ground are those of constructors, not the military”.
Then in the evening Joe Biden told us “Our mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to have been nation-building”.
Oh dear.
I’ve gotten into trouble for not including Maj Streatfeild’s quote, for treating you as if you all know and can quote from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. To that I say ‘Why can’t you?’
The point wasn’t about the quote itself, but if you’re interested here it is. This is the whole passage (from the Sawyer translation, because I like it). Maj Streatfeild paraphrased the last line.
In general, the method for employing the military is this: Preserving the enemy’s state capital is best, destroying their state capital second-best. Preserving their army is best, destroying their army second-best. Preserving their battalions is best, destroying their battalions second-best. Preserving their companies is best, destroying their companies second-best. Preserving their squads is best, destroying their squads second-best. For this reason attaining one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the pinnacle of excellence.
Subjugating the enemy’s army without fighting is the true pinnacle of excellence.