LAWTON, Okla.-- Thirty four years of military experience and a uniquely personal viewpoint of Afghanistan filled Cameron University's Aggie Gymnasium March 15. Everyone in attendance was waiting to hear from retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
McChrystal was the final speaker at the university's eighth Academic Festival with the theme "Afghanistan: its Complexities and its Relevance."
The former commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan did not share military strategy. Instead he shared basic human fundamentals as the key to transitioning U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.
"The hardest thing about problems is understanding what the problem is. We may not know enough facts. We may not have the right perspective. We may not be in the right frame of mind and the problem can seem like this Gordian knot of a thousand problems you don't even know where to start," said McChrystal.
He said learning their history and their culture can provide critical insight. An essential time period in both the U.S. and Afghan past would be from 1979-1989. McChrystal rhetorically asked how an American would think back on that time.
"Our Cold War enemies have invaded a country so we're going to resist that. So we provided weapons, money through the Pakistanis to support Mujahideen that became the resistance elements."
He said Americans may think the Afghans owe a debt of gratitude for helping liberate them, but there may be a different way to look at it.
"An Afghan thinks of this period they think we Afghans with some help from you, we fought your Cold War enemies - which you never did directly. We defeated your Cold War enemies; we bled for that and as soon as it was over you pulled out of being engaged in our country," said McChrystal.
"Now the question is not whether an American view would be right or an Afghan view would be right. The important part is understanding there are different perspectives to the same events because people come to future activities based on what they think of the past."
He said this understanding may explain their reaction to the United States returning in 2001. He said our original goal in re-entering the country was 9/11.
"It suited our objectives to go in to remove Al-Qaeda and in the process remove the Taliban government. There's different perspectives and a lot of Americans will say, well we went there to help the Afghans. We really didn't. We went there to help us, and now we're there trying to help the Afghans."
He said building relationships and communicating their importance will forge those broken ties. And he said relationships even with non-traditional leaders are extremely important.
A question from an audience member asked how the American Soldier accused of shooting civilians outside of the Kandahar providence will effect that relationship with U.S. forces.
"For those who want to believe we are there to murder Afghans it checks the block as proof. It is a very serious breach of trust. Everything you do like that threatens trust and it makes it more important not to walk away and say well we just can't get along with you people," said McChrystal.
He said judging an entire nation by a single incident is not fair on either side, and he re-emphasized the importance of communicating with one another, not as an answer to all problems but as a basis to start from.
As for leaving the country, McChrystal believes it is a good thing.
"First, you can't leave large numbers of foreign forces in a country like Afghanistan indefinitely. Culturally, they don't prefer that. They want to do it themselves and so a reduction in U.S. force and U.S. footprint there is not only inevitable, but is good. The Afghans have been building their army and police. It's difficult to do, but it's something they've been working hard."
Regarding training their forces, he said it's foolish to try to mold them into the likeness of the U.S. military, but instead capitalize on their own strengths and culture to make them self-sustaining.
"They're not worried about fighting, they're not hesitant to fight. They can use help in some areas but we have to do it in a way that works within their culture which recognizes their strengths and weaknesses. You don't want to go too far in somebody else's culture."
On the topic of helping Afghan women, McChrystal said the most important thing is ensuring an extreme government like the Taliban never returns. He said America can do all of this by performing a strategic partnership with the country--one in which he likens the United States to a big brother standing at the edge of the playground warding off potential bullies.
"We don't have to leave a lot of people there, or do a lot. We're just there saying 'No one's coming from the outside and we're going to give you some help for you to help yourself over time.' I think that's the right kind of balance that Afghans would like to see," said McChrystal.
Social Sharing