Louisiana Voice

Editor’s note: Louisiana Voice, while intended to draw attention to the foibles of our Louisiana Legislature and the machinations of the administration in Baton Rouge, is also open to a dialogue on national and international matters of import. Whether we agree or disagree with our guest columnists is not the issue. The issue is the free and unencumbered exchange if ideas, a principle to which we are incontrovertibly committed.

By John Sachs

Never has there been a greater capability to WAGE war than what the United States possesses. However, have we lost our ability to WIN a war? And what do I mean by “win?” Not what you may think.

Our nation designs and produces the most powerful of weapons. Our brave soldiers fight with unmatched discipline and dedication. We pour enough of our nation’s wealth into waging war that if spent on ourselves would lead to our solving almost every ill our nation faces. Yet with all of this power, we still do not win wars.

We all know what waging war is. Bombs and bullets, rifles and cannons, warships and bombers. Killing both combatants and non-combatants alike. Destruction of property. Disrupting the enemy’s commerce. Leaving a scorched earth in our wake. That’s what we do better than any other nation. We know how to wage war.

So what is winning a war? Winning is ridding our enemy of its desire to pose a threat to our nation’s security. If we can’t accomplish this, even though our enemy has surrendered, we have not won the war. What is left is a void, a vacuum into which disorder and chaos will surely return. Examples of wars that we have valiantly waged and yet not won include Korea, Viet Nam, Somalia, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

The United States is so inept at winning wars that it often doesn’t realize when the war has been won or lost. The latest tragic example is Afghanistan! The war in Afghanistan has been won twice and lost once. It was first won in 2002 by the United States when the warlord-led Taliban was neutralized, many of the Al Qaeda leaders had been killed, and a functioning central government had been established. Yet the United States did not realize that it had won and so is still fighting 8 years later, losing more and more each day, and has now indisputably lost the war. The threat to the United States grows each day we continue to wage war in Afghanistan.

So who won the second time? CHINA. Yes, even though they do not have a single soldier in the fight, they won the war.

How can that be? I will try to quickly explain and then encourage you to read more about this subject. Below is information obtained in part from the WORLD Blog from NBC News dated October 14, 2009.

Just outside Kabul, Afghanistan is the Aynak copper mine, which is believed to contain the world’s second-largest untapped copper deposit. This deposit was discovered in 1974 but until now has not been developed due to Afghanistan’s wars first with Russia and now the United States’ war against the Taliban and, ostensibly, Al Qaeda.

When China learned of this phenomenal copper deposit, it set about to negotiate a development pact with the Afghanistan government. In 2007, an agreement was signed where a Chinese joint venture would pay for the development and operating costs in exchange for 50% of the output. The remaining 50% would be available to the Afghan government to either use or sell. Note the equality of the split. In contrast, American developers have historically bribed corrupt foreign officials and then taken virtually 100% of the riches, leaving the general economy of the host nation no better off had the riches never been discovered or developed.

That’s why we are deservedly often referred to as “the Ugly Americans.”

When brought on-line, the Aynak mine will employ an estimated 40,000 Afghan citizens. And since the development is already well under way with production to begin in 2011, citizen excitement runs high, and China is viewed as a hero. Do you think that the Taliban would dare try to disrupt the Aynak development? NO! The citizen resistance would be unlike any that the Taliban has encountered.

Furthermore, the Chinese are building a road to Afghanistan for use in transporting their share of the copper to China. Imagine that. China is building a road to connect the two countries for common good. Yet the United States builds walled barriers to cut itself off from economic cooperation with its own neighbor. If we want to reduce illegal Mexican immigration, then we should help to create jobs in Mexico that will keep them there and in which we can share the economic bounty. That’s what is known as a win-win situation.

But the United States continues killing Afghan citizens, disrupting the economy, and destroying what little infrastructure the country has left. Are we removing the evil? Are we building long-term friendships where those on foreign shores will help to protect us from threats abroad? Are we helping to build an economy not dependent on the poppy trade and not controlled by warlords friendly to and financially supportive of Al Qaeda? Are we winning the war? Kinda hard to answer yes to those questions, isn’t it?

So what do we do now? First, for the future, clearly define what winning will look like. Then develop strategies and plans to accomplish winning. Learn by observing winners. Start with China. And most importantly, be slow to anger. Might does not make right. With might we can win battles, but not wars. Remember what we were all taught in kindergarten: Play Fair. Who knows, maybe, just maybe, we can learn to resolve arguments and live safely without so often resorting to war.