Impact Assessment of the United States War on Terror in Afghanistan
Julius Ngomba
Department of Political Science and International Relations,
Faculty of Social Science Taraba State University, Jalingo. Nigeria
E-mail address: ngombajulius@yahoo.com
&
Angela Ajodo-Adebanjoko, PhD
Department of Political Science, Federal University Lafia, Nasarawa State
E-mail address: andelaigo@yahoo.com
Abstract
The United States efforts in the war against terrorism have been substantial and sustained, with more than four trillion dollars spent, two and a half million military personnel sent into harm’s way, and nearly 7,000 service members losing their lives over the past fifteen years. Despite this, few studies have sought to measure the effectiveness of those efforts. This paper attempts to measure the US government’s effectiveness in achieving its stated objectives. It focuses on US efforts outside the homeland, rather than on domestic efforts in her fight against terrorism in Afghanistan to protect against terrorist attacks. United States efforts in the war on terror have been associated with a worsening of the situation, a fact which may be a function of US policies unwittingly making terrorism than insurgency more fea-sible by creating power vacuums after invading and failing to assure a monopoly on the use of force. Additionally, US policies likely increased grievances that fueled terror recruiting by deploying hundreds of thousands of military personnel into Muslim-majority states and upending political power relationships. This paper concludes that US efforts in the war on terrorism have been largely ineffective .It therefore recommends that US Defense policy should focus on capabilities, such as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, to support homeland security efforts.
Keywords: Afghanistan, Insurgency, Terrorism, War, Counter-terrorism
Introduction
The U.S.-led war on terrorism was the defining feature of George W. Bush’s presidency and is likely to remain, directly or indirectly, one of the central issues facing American grand strategy in Asia and beyond…………….