Student Reaction
Thomas Barfield’s command of his subject, the political and cultural dynamics in
Afghanistan, was impressive but that very command made his frequent use of the phrase
“we don’t know” that much more concerning. Will there be an adequate Status of Forces
Agreement passed and how many NATO troops will remain after April of next year? We
don’t know. Who are the front-runners to win the election scheduled for less than ten
months from now and thus succeed Hamid Karzai? How is Kabul’s urban population
thinking about the country’s current political situation? Is corruption the only thing
holding the current system together? Again and again, we don’t know. And these are only
a few of the several dozen questions that need to be answered. If Thomas Barfield cannot
answer these questions, no one can. These unanswerable questions are what made his
assertion that the United States must remain committed to Afghanistan so troubling. After
twelve years and enormous sums of spent money and lost lives, how can we have any
real confidence that a little bit more effort really does only mean a little bit more? If the
amount of money the U.S. has already spent in Afghanistan is not enough, how can a
small bit of extra money really be the difference? If very few of the most relevant
questions can be answered, how can we have any confidence that more money spent in
Afghanistan isn’t just more money squandered? How can we have any confidence that
getting more soldiers killed in places their parents cannot pronounce is actually a
meaningful sacrifice rather than a tragic waste?
Besides, even if we remain involved in Afghanistan a little longer and even if the
person elected to replace Karzai has legitimacy among the Pashtuns, the Tajiks, and
westerners and even if the Taliban cannot mount an effective insurgency and even if
Afghanistan’s mineral potential can actually be developed and can actually fund good
governance, the Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists will only cross the border and operate
from Pakistan where they are more or less tolerated by the Pakistani ISI. Our only real
goal in Afghanistan, eliminating the al-Qaeda threat, will have only been marginally
advanced, and that is the best-case scenario. I appreciate Dr. Barfield giving his lecture
and certainly learned a great deal about Afghanistan, but I remain unconvinced of his
central policy prescription that the United States should continue to be intimately
involved in attempting to prop up the Afghan state. Fixing Afghanistan still seems like a
job that is not only thankless but also borderline hopeless. Call it Iraq-fatigue if you will,
but I am tired of thankless, hopeless Sisyphean tasks in the greater Middle East.
Barfield’s Call to Action for Students:
When asked why students and young people in the United States should care
about the current situation in and future of Afghanistan, Dr. Barfield pointed to the
unknown youth culture of Afghanistan. He mentioned recent increases in urbanization
have brought large numbers of young people to Kabul. They see Afghanistan much
differently than the generation currently in power. However, the extent to which their
perspective differs and in what direction youth popular opinion is trending is uncertain.
Because the Internet has not fully penetrated Afghanistan, social media has not had the
opportunity to act as a unifying force for the youth. Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube have
all played important roles in the recent political movements in the Middle East and North
Africa. The images of the police murder of a young woman watching pro-democracy
demonstrators in Tehran in 2009 circulated social media channels through Twitter and
Youtube. Tunisia’s Twitter revolution and the social media-fueled protests in Egypt
catalyzed the toppling of both their presidents by mobilizing countrywide, and even
worldwide, support. The impact of new media on stability in Afghanistan remains to be
seen. The commonality of the platform of social media among most youth today could
potentially make the problems of Afghanistan and the need for reform seem not so
distant.
Recently, the Parliament and Ministries of Afghanistan have seen an emergence
of younger leaders – mostly the sons of former statesmen who have passed down their
titles. Because many of these younger leaders were educated outside of Afghanistan and
grew up post-Soviet domination, their perspectives, worldview, and hopes for
Afghanistan are markedly different from those of their fathers’ generation. Barfield
pointed out that although the passing of power continues to be conducted in the
traditional way, the ideas of these future leaders would shift the Afghani mentality
towards a progressive future. We must only wait until they are able to have a voice in the
government following the passing of the generation of older men still holding onto the
majority of power and influence.