Sometimes, the world gives us problems without solutions.

Afghanistan may be the prime example.

American and NATO forces have now been engaged there more than 15 years. The conflict amounts to this country’s longest war.

And there’s no reason to believe it’s going to end soon.

We are, without a doubt, “waist deep in the big muddy.”

So none of the options presented to President Trump by his military and diplomatic advisers was appealing. None of them appealed to President Obama before him.

Boost troop levels, lower troop levels, phase out U.S. support, increase U.S. support, none of those courses of actions holds any promise of success.

The problem, it seems, is Afghanistan itself.

It’s not so much a nation as a bundle of regions, ethnic conclaves, religious enclaves and cul-de-sacs governed by warlords or religious zealots. 

A nation requires a strong central government and a clear sense of shared identity. Afghanistan has neither.

One wise historian compared 19th, 20th and 21st century Afghanistan to Scotland in the 16th and 17th centuries. 

In that era long ago, Scotland had a king, but the country was essentially a collection of clans behaving in tribal fashion. With every step a person took away from the throne of the king of Scotland, the regent’s power was diminished.

The same seems true of Afghanistan. Every kilometer away from the “iron ring” of Kabul, the power of the central government and the military shrinks.

It’s become politically fashionable these days to deride “nation building” as a waste of time, but if ever a country needed it, that country is Afghanistan.

Trouble is, sincere, well-intentioned efforts by the U.S. and NATO to pull things together and establish a credible nation have failed to do the job. They’ve been just as stymied as military strategies.

Given all that, President Trump’s initial instinct that the U.S. should walk away is understandable. But as he has apparently concluded, the consequences of walking away are likely to be even worse than staying.

Afghanistan may simply be one of those problems that defy solutions.
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