Afghanistan Agricultural Extension Agents from each of the 13 districts in Khowst province receive instruction in orchard care techniques sponsored by the 1-19th Agribusiness Development Team, Sept. 6, 2009.
AP Photo

"Afghanistan: From Nation-Building to Governance and Back Again"

Op-Ed, The Huffington Post

March 17, 2010

Author: Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program

Belfer Center Programs or Projects: International Security

"In measured and carefully chosen words, yet devoid of the usual diplomatic blandness, Richard Holbrooke, President Obama's representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, has laid out the case for American involvement in that faraway region of the world.

Speaking on March 4th at the Harvard Kennedy School's JFK Jr. Forum, Ambassador Holbrooke asserted, in categorical terms, that Vietnam (where he had served as a State Department official) was not a threat to the national security of the United States. What he seemed to be saying was, in effect, that it was not necessary for the United States to have engaged there, because the Viet Minh/Viet Cong did not threaten the U.S. directly.

Turning to Afghanistan, the veteran diplomat declared that it was, by contrast, a threat to the national security of the United States. He pointed out that a terrorist attack had been launched against the U.S. homeland, and that it had its origin in Afghanistan. Moreover, the threat could re-emerge if the same terrorist group — al-Qaeda — was allowed to regain sway there...."

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