Was the War in Afghanistan a Mistake?
Foreign Aairs Brain Trust
We asked dozens o experts whether they agreed or disagreed that Washington should not have
committed to a sustained, large-scale military presence in Afghanistan. The results from those who
responded are below.20100
STRONGLY
DISAGREEDISAGREE NEUTRAL AGREE STRONGLY
AGREEDISAGREE, CONFIDENCE LEVEL 10
Husain Haqqani
Director for South and Central Asia at the
Hudson Institute and former Pakistani
Ambassador to the United States
“The United States could have left sooner had it
actually committed to a sustained military presence.
The war has been prolonged because the Taliban, and
the Pakistani generals who back them, thought they
could wait out the Americans, who constantly talked
about getting out.”AGREE, CONFIDENCE LEVEL 8
Vikram Singh
Senior Adviser to the Asia Program at the
U.S. Institute of Peace and former Deputy
Special Representative for Afghanistan and
Pakistan at the U.S. State Department
“A sustainable and relatively small mission—
consisting of Special Forces, intelligence, and
training and support eorts—in pursuit of a
political solution to the Afghan civil war is, and
always was, the best approach.”See the full responses at ForeignAairs.com/AfghanistanWar25_Books_pp_Blues.indd 224 9/23/19 3:16 PM