Intelligence Squared US

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2009

AMERICA CANNOT AND WILL NOT SUCCEED IN AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN

About This Debate

The Obama Administration has implemented a significant change in policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan, which they view as a single challenge, AfPak. More troops and a new commander have been sent to Afghanistan, and the US has increased its level of support and aid to Pakistan. To many, this means we are becoming further entrenched in an open-ended quagmire where any military solution will ultimately fail. Others question whether we should care if Afghanistan has a strong central government or a democratic one. While most agree it should not become a terrorist haven, opinions differ on how this should be accomplished: more troops, covert operations, diplomacy?

And what to make of Pakistan? We cannot allow its nuclear arsenal to fall into the hands of radicals, but President Obama has ruled out putting US troops on the ground. The task of rooting out al Qaeda and Taliban militants falls to Pakistan’s army, which has, until recently, supported these groups as a hedge against future conflict with India. How much tolerance does America have for the long road ahead with AfPak? Can we ever “win,” and how would we even define a win in this region?

The Panel

For The Motion

Steven Clemons

FOR THE MOTION

Steven Clemons

directs the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation, which aims to promote a new American internationalism that combines a tough-minded realism about America's interests in the world with a pragmatic idealism about the kind of world order best suited to America's democratic way of life.
Patrick Lang

FOR THE MOTION

Patrick Lang

is a retired senior officer of U.S. Military Intelligence and U.S. Army Special Forces (The Green Berets). He served in the Department of Defense both as a serving officer and then as a member of the Defense Senior Executive Service for many years.
Ralph Peters

FOR THE MOTION

Ralph Peters

is a retired Army officer who rose from the enlisted ranks. As a soldier or civilian, he has experience in over 70 countries.

Against The Motion

James Shinn

AGAINST THE MOTION

James Shinn

was assistant secretary of defense for Asia in 2007-2008. Before the Pentagon he served as the national intelligence officer for East Asia in 2003-2006, first at the Central Intelligence Agency and then for the director of National Intelligence.
John Nagl

AGAINST THE MOTION

John Nagl

is president of the Center for a New American Security and a visiting professor in the War Studies Department at Kings College of London. Nagl retired from the US Army after 20 years with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Steve Coll

AGAINST THE MOTION

Steve Coll

is president and CEO of New America Foundation, and a staff writer at the New Yorker magazine. Previously he spent 20 years as a foreign correspondent and senior editor at the Washington Post, serving as the paper’s managing editor from 1998 to 2004.

Moderator

John Donvan is an author and correspondent for ABC News. He has served as ABC’s White House Correspondent, along with postings in Moscow, London, Jerusalem and Amman. He is currently writing a book on the history of autism to be published by Crown in 2013.