%0 Journal Article
%T Obama¡¯S Afghanistan Strategy: A Policy of Balancing the Reality with the Practice
%A Wahabuddin Ra¡¯ees
%J Journal of Politics and Law
%D 2010
%I 
%R 10.5539/jpl.v3n2p80
%X President Barack H. Obama promised to stabilize Afghanistan. President Obama in 2009 introduced the AfPak or Afghanistan and Pakistan Policy. Obama¡¯s AfPak Policy in outlining America¡¯s intentions in Afghanistan was announced over two phases: the Obama March 27, 2009, Afghanistan Strategy and the Obama December 1, 2009, Afghanistan Strategy. The AfPak Policy¡¯s recognition that there is no military-only solution to the Afghan quagmire and focus on soft powers and nation-building efforts distinguishes it from Bush¡¯s Afghanistan Policy. The Policy will fail if the US fails to consolidate the power of the central government, abandons the intra-Afghan dialogue and if the dialogue it suggests with powers with stakes results in ¡®sourcing out¡¯ Afghanistan again. President Obama should not have made public the July 2011 deadline for a drawdown and eventual withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan in his December 1, 2009, tier of AfPak Policy announcement. The US has a ¡®stabilizing¡¯ role and therefore, must work out an alternative approach such as strengthening the existing ¡®declaration of strategic partnership¡¯ with Afghanistan to remain engaged. The Obama administration should have shared Secretary Gates¡¯s fear that the Afghans will view the US as an occupying power similar to the Soviet Union. The US needs to convince Afghanistan¡¯s neighbors that Afghanistan is a sovereign state and its sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected by the international community. The Policy¡¯s assertion that the US is not an occupier and respects Afghanistan¡¯s rights as a sovereign state when it remains engaged in its politics is praiseworthy.
%U http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jpl/article/view/7191