America In Afghanistan: Foreign Policy And Decision Making From Bush To Obama To Trump

329 Pages·2019·1.518 MB·English

by  Sharifullah Dorani

Sharifullah Dorani completed his PhD on the War in Afghanistan
at Durham University. He has lived and worked in Afghanistan and
lectures on the history of US policy in the region.

AMERICA IN
AFGHANISTAN
Foreign Policy and Decision Making from
Bush to Obama to Trump
S D
HARIFULLAH ORANI
I.B.TAURIS
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Tomyparents,wife,noorofmyeyes,ElhamandHusna,and,mostimportantly,
the ordinary Afghans: who have received nothing from the four-decade-long
war but an extraordinary amount of suffering, and who are ‘thirsty and
hungry’ for peace and security.

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
PART I BUSH’S ‘GLOBALWAR ON TERROR’
IN AFGHANISTAN, 2001–8
1. The Intervention Decision at the Initiation Stage 15
2. The Intervention and Counterterrorism Decisions at the
Formulation Stage, September 2001–February 2002 28
To Counter Terrorists or Build Afghanistan: That Was
the Question 42
3. An Insider’s Insight into Bush’s War Cabinet 48
4. The Counterterrorism Strategy at the Implementation
Stage, 2002–8 61
The Iraq Preoccupation Makes the Afghanistan War
Forgotten 61
Pakistan Played the Role of both a Firefighter and an
Arsonist 68
The Light Footprint Part of the Strategy Proved Disastrous 76
5. The Counterterrorism Strategy at the Evaluation Stage and
Bush’s Tilt towards a Counter-insurgency Strategy, 2007–8 82
viii AMERICA INAFGHANISTAN
PART II OBAMA’S WAR OF ‘COUNTERING VIOLENT
EXTREMISM’ IN AFGHANISTAN, 2009–17
6. The Surge Decision at the Initiation Phase 99
7. An Insider’s Insight into Obama’s War Cabinet 113
8. The Surge Decision at the Formulation Phase,
September–December 2009 132
9. The Surge Decision at the Implementation Phase,
January 2010–June 2011 149
10. The Surge Decision at the Evaluation Phase and
Obama’s Formulation of the Withdrawal Decision,
June 2011 172
Obama Formulates the Decision to Withdraw 179
11. The Withdrawal Strategy at the Implementation
Phase and Obama’s Final Policy Alterations,
July 2011–December 2016 185
PART III TRUMP’S WAR AGAINST ‘RADICAL
ISLAMIC TERRORISM’ IN AFGHANISTAN, 2016–18
12. An Insider’s Insight into President Trump and his
Administration 197
13. Trump’s South Asia Strategy in Afghanistan at the
Initiation, Formulation and Implementation Phases,
2016–18 209
Conclusion 223
Notes 231
Bibliography 279
Index 306
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Theresearchandwritingofthisbookwouldhavenotbeensuccessfully
completed without the essential and gracious support of many
individuals.Specialgratitudeandpersonalthanksareduetoallofthem.
IshouldliketoexpressmysincerestgratefulnesstomyeditorTomasz
Hoskins at I.B.Tauris. Without his unfailing support, guidance and
patience this book would never have seen completion. Equally, I am
grateful for the support provided by Arub Ahmed and Tia Ali at
I.B.Tauris.
IamthankfultotheSchoolofGovernmentandInternationalAffairs
atDurhamUniversity,especiallytoProfessorsAnoushEhteshami,Clive
Jones, and most importantly, John Dumbrell. Professor John devoted a
great deal of his precious time to reading and commenting upon this
work and making many invaluable suggestions. Gratitude is also due
to my school teachers in Afghanistan and to my lecturers at Bedford
College, University of Northampton and UCL for their invaluable
teachings and support throughout my student life.
My research required many Afghan sources that were unavailable in
the UK. I want to express my thanks and gratitude to those in Kabul
(whom I cannot name for security reasons) for assisting me with
arranginginterviewswithAfghansfromallwalksoflife.Ifeelindebted
to my all interviewees, particularly those ordinary Afghans who shared
their views with me and allowed me to physically experience their
lives – theyaremyinspiration,myheroesandheroines,anditisforthem
that I wrote this book. As I promised them, I stayed committed to
voicing their concerns uncensored.