Family Security Matters » Publications » Exclusive: Why Was Afghanistan ‘Neglected?’

Family Security Matters » Publications » Exclusive: Why Was Afghanistan ‘Neglected?’: "The debate over how many U.S. troops are needed to stabilize Afghanistan should have spawned (and still can) a larger discussion over the role of such campaigns in American global strategy and force structure. In his televised speech December 1st, President Barack Obama took a swipe at George W. Bush for not sending enough troops to Afghanistan because of the war in Iraq, which Obama reminded his audience he had opposed. It is true that American ground forces were spread thin by having to fight two wars at once, even within the same theater of Central Command, which covers the entire Middle East. In July 2008, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told Congress, “I don't have troops I can reach for . . . to send into Afghanistan until I have a reduced requirement in Iraq.” But why does a country with 300 million people and the largest national economy in the world have a military so small that it cannot fight small, counterinsurgency wars in two places at once?"