President Obama is considering sending more

troops to Afghanistan to save it from becoming a “failed state.” But, can the U.S. Military really

nation build? It seems like occupying countries only help to radicalize new populations of

people…growing the number of potential terrorists. The United States’ military is an enormous,

powerful organization that is failing to defeat small, poorly funded terrorist cells. This somewhat

clumsy giant accidentally kills civilians and occupies territory that only help make locals very

angry. Wars bring destruction of economies and social networks that make people feel like they have

nothing left to lose: low hanging fruit for terrorist cell recruiting.

The U.S. military is

not, and cannot, be equipped with the tools necessary to defeat International Terrorism. The US is

trying to get rid of an ideology, not another army. We are fighting a nebulous enemy that is not

even internally cohesive (think cells in Somalia). I think social workers would be more effective in

Iraq and Afghanistan than soldiers. The billions spent on these wars could have been allocated to

expand (or create) intelligence units with an international scope.

In many (ten? twenty?)

years, when US forces are finally gone, cells will continue to operate in Iraq, Afghanistan, and

Pakistan. We are fighting an ideology, not a people. Defeating an ideology is a sophisticated task.

Essentially, the US has to win the hearts and minds of future recruits so these groups’ memberships

dry up.