The Joplin Globe
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There has been a massive disclosure of classified information about the war in Afghanistan, even to the point that some are comparing the WikiLeaks documents to the Vietnam-era Pentagon Papers.
Similarities seem only surface.
Consider the mood of the country in 1971 as opposed to now. We had over 500,000 troops involved, many of them draftees, in a long and frustrating war that outraged the majority of Americans. There were routine and massive anti-Vietnam rallies. Returning veterans were shunned, even spit upon, and called baby killers.
In essence the Pentagon Papers disclosed a carefully developed, 22-year history of the war in Vietnam. They were policy-level documents written by highly placed leaders and their staffs. Much historical information, still highly classified, was thus revealed including at least political deception at the highest levels of government.
Not so with the WikiLeaks documents, which range from files documenting Afghan civilian deaths to evidence of U.S.-Pakistani distrust. The documents consist of primarily field reports, after-action reports and other battlefield-level communications of conditions on the ground from 2004 to 2009. No doubt the disclosures confirm that the war was not going well, our troops lacked support and Washington’s attention was elsewhere, meaning Iraq.
In essence, WikiLeaks tells us little that we did not already know, without the details. Afghanistan was for sure not going well, if not a mess.
To his credit, in 2009 President Barack Obama reviewed the situation at the policy level and made significant changes in policy, support and leadership on the ground. We are now in about the 10th month of those changes being ordered and executed. So what is revealed in the 92,000 documents is history that at least some efforts are under way to correct.
Afghanistan is not yet another Vietnam. Yes, there are many similarities, particularly from the perspective of the battlefield. But history has not yet concluded the outcome in Afghanistan. Good leadership can still make a big difference.
