Issue Paper - Afghanistan War

Tyler Johnson
Ms. Duquette
AP Government and Politics
Afghanistan War
The Afghanistan War began on October 7, 2001. The purpose of the war is to fight terrorism. The invasion of Afghanistan began as a response to the September 11th attacks on the United States. The United States sent troops, along with the British Army, into Afghanistan in an attempt to rid the Afghan territory of its terrorist occupants. The main terrorist group that was based in Afghanistan at the start of the war was the group named Al-Qaeda. The War in Afghanistan still continues to this day. Support for the war, although starting strong, has steadily declined since the war began. Citizens of each participating country have become progressively opposed to the war and their nation's intentions for fighting in the war.
There are two central platforms that describe the general public's opinion of the Afghanistan War. The first standpoint is one of support for the war. This position of support stems from pro-military beliefs. Many citizens, generally Conservatives and Republicans, support the military's efforts, often regardless of what the military's intentions are. Post-September 11th hysteria fueled the original support for the war. Both Conservatives and Liberals initially supported the war, so general support for the war was high. But after policies were established about the war's purpose, public support faded over time. Essentially, Conservative citizens tend to lean towards supporting the war effort because they generally support military spending and national defense. In the case of the war in Afghanistan, most citizens would define the war as an issue of national defense because the war's purpose is to combat terrorism, which often occurs as an attack on the nation's public.
From the Liberal or Democratic viewpoint, the war in Afghanistan is a mistake. Liberal citizens tend to lack the whole-hearted support of military spending that Conservative citizens often have. Although Liberal citizens still support their country, they disagree with excessive spending on military matters. The Afghanistan War is said to cost hundreds of millions of dollars per day to America. Liberal citizens would generally prefer to see that money go towards internal affairs like Government-funded programs rather than military supplies. The cost of the war is not the only factor that causes Liberals to oppose the war. The Liberal opposition to the war also oppose the trend of rising death tolls in Afghanistan, as the trend seems to be that the death toll per year has been increasing since the war started.
Recently the plan of action in the Afghanistan War has been to bolster the amount of troops in Afghanistan and use this troop surge to also aid in ridding Pakistan of its Al-Qaeda members. This plan, which was created by President Obama and his cabinet, hopes to bring a quicker end to the War in Afghanistan and the War on Terror. This occurrence seems to contradict typical Liberal and Democratic viewpoints on the war and many have questioned the effectiveness of President Obama's plan. However, the plan was unveiled in March of 2009 and may not yield results for some time. The main purpose of the war in Afghanistan is currently to secure Afghanistan from terrorism and establish an active military in Afghanistan, controlled by the Afghan Government.

Bibliography
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/afghanistan
http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Afghanistan+War
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29898698/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia
http://icasualties.org/oef/