1. It came up unchecked in last night’s debate, so I want to clear up a dangerous misconception that pervades conversations about U.S. war: the faulty assumption that U.S. war = the presence of American troops on the ground, & ending war just means bringing ground troops home...
No, American war is so much more than just ground troops. In fact, in Afghanistan, most U.S. combat operations today are comprised of airstrikes. This year, the U.S. dropped more bombs in Afghanistan than any in this 18-year-war: usatoday.com/story/news/pol…
One of the most glaring examples of this misconception came from Biden, who referred back to his effort in 2009 to persuade Obama to take a different approach in Afghanistan—sometimes called "The Biden Plan" or the "zero option" (Some background: nytimes.com/2017/08/22/us/…) ...
The idea was to scale back the U.S. footprint in Afghanistan and largely conduct limited counterterrorism operations. Biden cast this approach as one that would have curbed war. What he didn’t say is that doing so would have accelerated the pace of airstrikes dramatically.
Today, most U.S. combat operations in Iraq, Syria, & Afghanistan are not carried out by ground troops; they are U.S. strikes, & any real conversation about “ending endless war” requires serious questions to each candidate about their policy on America's air campaigns...
With one exception, none of the Democratic candidates on last night's stage have articulated clear policy on U.S. airstrikes. The exception is Sanders, who articulated some of that vision here, foreignaffairs.com/articles/2019-… though details are lacking...
While Warren has taken action regarding Saudi & UAE airstrikes in Yemen (washingtonpost.com/world/national…) she hasn't articulated anything that suggests she would bring a major shift to U.S. policy when it comes to U.S. aerial campaigns.
I've spent years investigating the impact of U.S. airstrikes in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. In many of these places, particularly in mass casualty incidents, civilian casualties are having devastating impacts on the ground, often isolating civilian populations.
Debate moderators, reporters, anyone trying to have a real convo about "ending endless wars" need to have a clearer understanding of what U.S. war actually means today. It's not just ground troops & American casualties.
