Memo writing and professional communication

¶ … Successful Strategy in Ending the War in Afghanistan

Since 2001, when the country of Afghanistan's governing powers refused to surrender the international terrorist Osama Bin Laden, who was responsible for the destruction of the World Trade Center, in New York City, New York, on September 11, 2001; the American presence and war effort in that country has received a subdued amount of press and public attention. The reason is not that the war effort in Afghanistan is unimportant, but that the American war and involvement in Iraq overwhelmed the attention of the American press and public, especially as the presidential campaigns were being carried out, and as the 2008 presidential election drew near.

Now, however, as we begin turning over the responsibility for government, security, and military forces to the Iraqi people, and begin withdrawing not our support, but certainly our troop presence in that country, public and media attention has turned to Afghanistan. The following are my recommendations for resolving the American war and military presence in Afghanistan in a way that is compatible with our U.S. goals, our international goals of diplomacy and collaboration with our European and other allies, and with the least number of American casualties.

Keeping in mind that Iraq was the undoing of George Bush's public support, it is important to approach Afghanistan with the full support of the media, thus further ingratiating your administration in the minds and hearts of the American public. We will not address in this memo the subject of Osama Bin Laden. I believe that the public's focus on Bin Laden has waned, and that they are now more concerned with a positive outcome in Afghanistan. The press focuses on the sensationalism of Russia's attempt to invade and take over Afghanistan, and as that failed endeavor is being hailed as "Russia's Vietnam." There is perhaps no need to point out that the technology that the Russians had at the time of their invasion of Afghanistan was not as sophisticated as is our weaponry today; nor did Russia have the support for Afghanistan that we have today with our ally nations, the United Nations, and with the people in America. It should also be mentioned that the United States actually worked covertly in Afghanistan during the Russian effort there, and we were in no small way a factor in the reason the Russian's failed in that country.

This memo encompasses my recommendations to you, Mr. President. Of course, as you are well aware, there is never in these kinds of situations a 100% win-win outcome. I will review the ramifications of my recommendations as well, but I believe that you the benefits far outweigh those drawbacks. My memo focuses on the productive outcome of using our sophisticated technology and weaponry, Mr. President. We can anticipate high casualties in enemy quarters; and the backlash of that will be that the enemy will use the media to portray non-uniformed terrorists as civilians, and as our "militarily acceptable civilian casualties." My three page press memo following this policy advisory will help you with ideas to address that press approach. I believe we can circumvent and mitigate any potential damage as a result of negative press in that regard. As always, Mr. President, I am at your service should you require clarification of the classified secret security information or the source of non-classified information in this memo.

Importance of Afghanistan to U.S. And Allied Interests

Economically Afghanistan is at this of little importance to the United States and/or U.S. Allies as a trading partner. Afghanistan is a land with mountainous regions on its northern border with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan; along its north eastern border with China; and its upper northwest Hindu Kush and southeast Pamir Moutain Range bordering Pakistan. It also is a porous mountainous range along most of its upper northwest border with Iran. The country's mountains are divided into three geographical regions: the central highlands, which constitutes 64% of the country's geographic space and is part of the Himalayan Mountain Ranges. The Hindu Kush, northwest geographical region, is porous, rising 21,000 feet. The second geographical range to be considered is the fertile northern plains where there are lower elevations of 2000 feet. The third, and final geographical range is the country's southwestern plateau, comprising just 25% of the country's geographical area. It is an arid region where most scrub grows, and has a highest elevation of about 3,000 feet. There are two significant water sources, the Kabul River and the Amu-Darya River, which rises in the Hindu Kush, and flow from a northwest direction.

The country's agricultural and mineral resources are: sheep, sugar, vegetables barley, cotton, fruit, nuts, rice, maize, coal, copper, and natural gas; denoting its major industry of agriculture. As a result of the country's history of continuous war, its natural resources of coal, copper, and natural gas have not been exploited and developed in ways that would make these natural resources of economic benefit to the country. Also, the agricultural conditions that are conducive to a flourishing ag economy have been subsistent, again, as a result of the war, and also because Afghanistan devotes much of its farmable geographical area to growing poppies. As the source of heroin and other illicit drugs, the Taliban once enforced strict rules against growing the plant; now, of course, as we are well aware, the Taliban and Al Qaeda benefit from the trade of the illegal plants to finance their terrorist activities in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and around the world.

Militarily, Afghanistan is of great importance to the U.S. And the Allies. Looking at a map of Southwest Asia, it becomes clear why Afghanistan is of importance. Its geographical location bordering the hostile country of Iran makes Afghanistan invaluable to us at this time, as Iran has begun making loud noises about their nuclear reactor (which translates to nuclear armament) goals. Iran is a major exporter of terrorism by way of their support for terrorist groups. Iran uses Iraq as an arms and terrorism segue to the Middle East, and its practice in this regard has been greatly hampered by the presence of U.S. military forces in Iraq. In recent years, Syria, which once posed a great threat to Israel, has not been able to conduct its aggression towards Israel in a business as usual way because of the interruption of terrorism and supplies through Iraq to Syria.

This has served to frustrate the Iranian fundamentalist leadership. We believe this is one of the reasons they have been making loud noises about their nuclear reactor program. Nonetheless, just as when Saddam Hussein made statements that he was pursuing programs of weapons of mass destruction; must be taken seriously. As there is no way to physically verify the information, which was much the same case as Iraq before Operation Freedom, we can only take the word of the leaders who make these statements and believe them to be true, or reflective of an aggressive effort to make these things be true.

In either case, it is indicative of the way in which Iran wants to portray itself to the world: as a country with nuclear capability, extremist in a political philosophy intricately and inextricably woven into the fabric of their Islamic fundamentalism, and very dangerous to not just the U.S. And its Allies, but to other Muslim countries that do not comport with the philosophy of Iran's extremist fundamentalism. This is a very real threat to the rest of the world.

Since Iran has demonstrated aggression towards Iraq when Saddam Hussein was dictator of Iraq, it is a strategic advantage to have forces in Afghanistan and in Iraq at this time. It is important to remember that while Pakistan demonstrates some level of support for the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, that Pakistan's government really has no control over the border regions of Afghanistan, which are villages and independent farmers. Fortunately, this lack of control and the porous border would cause Pakistan's effectiveness to be adversely impacted should Pakistan support Iran in a future confrontation -- which we believe is inevitable. Our intelligence support this, and that Iran, without intervention, will indeed have nuclear weapons and the ability to launch those weapons on Israel, Europe, and the United States; and that Iran will not hesitate to do that.

Whereas the Cold War once represented that era between the communist nations of Russia, Eastern Europe, and East Germany and the free world as an era acknowledging the fatality and finality of nuclear weapons should either side launch them; no such middle ground can be acknowledged in the case of Iraq, because its leaders are fundamentalists, and believe that it is to their glory in heaven to die. They would rather see the end of the earth than to think of an earth without Islam as the one and only religion being practiced. This is unfortunately the irrational path we are on: fundamental Islamists who are bent on destroying anyone and any government that is not traditional Islam in expression.

With the advantage of Afghanistan, the U.S. And Allies will be geographically positioned against Iran, Pakistan, and negative forces in the Southwest Asia and in the Middle East.

U.S. And Allied Objectives in Afghanistan

The first objective for U.S. And allied forces in Afghanistan is to eradicate outside and hostile threats to the country's infrastructure. The threats which currently exist are:

Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists located mainly on the porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan

Iranian military readiness and proliferation of nuclear armament

These threats might at first be considered minimal in comparison to those threats that exist in Iraq, since Iraq borders with Syria, Iran, and is generally a South Asia-Middle East corridor. Afghanistan, however, bordering Iran and Pakistan, while its threats from Iran, Pakistan, and internal radical insurgent forces cannot be minimized and must be considered seriously, and our objectives for Afghanistan reflect an aggressive and proactive response to militant forces in the country; so too must the threat from Iran be acknowledged and taken seriously.

With the assumption that the threats are taken seriously, it is therefore necessary to station troops along the Afghanistan and Pakistan borders. The troop count must be sufficient to ensure that movement of the enemy between borders is identified, and terminated. The troops must be authorized to operate legally on either side of the border: Pakistan or Afghanistan. This secures the first objective: to secure insurgents operating out of Pakistan against the U.S. military and Afghan government.

The second objective is to secure the north-southwest border with Iran. Troops have to be stationed along this border, without overt access to the Iranian side of the border, but with covert access in order to build military and national security intelligence bases on what Iran's current abilities are, and to monitor Iran's ability on a go forward basis. Afghanistan is a good base for operations of this nature.

The third objective is to focus on building an infrastructure in Afghanistan that can support an economy based on Afghanistan's own resources, and to create new ventures in the country that will support and sustain trade ventures between Afghanistan and other countries.

The fourth objective is to provide support to the government of Afghanistan militarily, economically, and socially with jobs through an improved infrastructure and while building that infrastructure.

Fifth, to eradicate the poppy from Afghanistan's economic structure by creating other areas of enterprise, teaching improved farming methods and processes, and generally bringing back economic income sources that have long been impaired by continuous war in Afghanistan. Currently, a large number of Afghanis are addicted to heroin and other by products of poppies. While we do not anticipate nor propose that we attempt to address the problem by other than eradicating the poppy; we believe it is in the best long-term interest of the country and in the interest of creating a stable economy, to eradicate the country's economic and physical dependence on the poppy. We believe that we can bring other venture sources to a higher production level to replace the poppy that will sustain the economy in a more proactive way that is conducive with world trade partnering ventures.

These are the objectives we have for Afghanistan. As you can see, Mr. President, the goals are extensive, but if we are successful along these lines, then we will have a long and permanent relationship with the Afghanistan.

Classified Overview of our New Strategy

From the classified side of considering our objectives in Afghanistan, we will need to have dedicated satellite surveillance of both borders for continuous monitoring, gathering of information, and developing intelligence based on the information gathered. The objective will further be accomplished using unmanned aerial vehicle technologies to accomplish specific area surveillance and bombing of sites identified as extremist strongholds on either side of the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan. This will negate the need for relying on Pakistani nationals to the extent possible, and will prevent U.S. casualties whenever possible, and to the extent possible.

One of the problems with bombing of remote areas has been the Taliban and Al Qaeda's response to casualties by presenting insurgents without uniforms as civilians to the media. We must counter this by building portfolios that show a lack of individual casualties' connection to the mountain villages. Intelligence files on the villagers can support our claims that only insurgent extremists were killed in the attacks. So far, the U.S. media has made martyrs of casualties that are known to be insurgents, and the U.S. has not addressed those allegations. When claims that civilians are killed go unaddressed, it forces the Afghanistan Government to make strong statements against the actions, and to issue cautions to the U.S. And Allied forces. It also feeds the negative image of the U.S. As the aggressor without a conscience, and this quickly permeates the thinking of the civilians who might find it to be cause to support the enemy forces. It is time to demonstrate that the casualties are in the service of the insurgent extremist groups at the time when they were killed. The Afghanistan Government is supportive of the U.S. presence there, and whenever they are forced to condemn our presence there because of civilian casualties, it creates difficulty for the government, which is already struggling with waning public support that represents insurgent efforts to discredit it as a puppet government of the U.S.

The U.S. must disseminate positive information about training

Afghanistan's own military forces, and showing the training as being successful in preparing those forces to protect their country from insurgent forces. We must seek the best looking, most educated, articulate men to focus on as role models and as people of high integrity with only the best interest of serving their country as their focus. We must create a publicity campaign around these individuals, preferably high ranking military men, to show them as family men, honest citizens, and as capable military strategists. They must be able to articulate their own military strengths, but also recognize their own weaknesses, and to be able to help support the need for a continued U.S. presence there until such time as they, as military leaders can be certain that their own forces are trained.

Much has to be done to turn around the idea of the government as corrupt. Part of that can be accomplished with eradicating the poppy and drug industry in the country. However, the government must have a highly visible role in new state projects: roads, bridges, housing, and other areas of infrastructure. It will be up to the American forces on the border where there is the highest insurgent activity to keep those insurgents contained and to prevent them from successfully carrying out missions to undo the progress being made in the country's infrastructure.

There must be an effort to begin educating the young boys and girls in accordance with the Islamic tradition of keeping them separate -- at least for now. Right now, there is a need to focus on making sure that the young children are well taken care of: fed, clothed, and sheltered. We know that the individuals of the Taliban come from the refugee populations of previous wars, and that those children were "grown" in refugee camps inside the Pakistan border where they experienced horrific conditions. Instances have been cited -- and we have seen this, too, in the Sudan -- where young children are tied to the bodies of their sick and often times demented mothers in order not to lose them. We know, too, that Al Qaeda fundamentalists were able to win the hearts and minds of these young men who grew up in these horrific conditions and manifested their own emotional problems and who were prone to violence by providing them food, clothing, and shelter. We must ensure that the young children of Afghanistan receive these basic essentials, and that they are aware of where those essentials are coming from. We must work to prevent the insurgents from delivering any form of sustenance or assistance to the civilian population in Afghanistan.

The civilians in Afghanistan are the key to achieving our goals for the country. Right now, especially in the remote areas, the civilians are punished by the insurgent forces if they are found to assist or to cooperate with U.S. Or Allied forces. The punishment is severe, including brutal beatings and even death. Homes are destroyed, and the fear of the insurgents is so high that it is difficult to overcome it. There must be a campaign to keep these civilians invested in supporting their government. That, again, goes to maintaining the insurgents in the border region and away from the greater geographical areas of the country.

The presence and visibility of Allied forces must be utilized to demonstrate that the United States is not a rogue nation, and that there is a like mindedness among the countries of the free world in bringing about an end to the need for engagement in Afghanistan, and more importantly to bring about an end to terrorism. The media surrounding the Allied forces' presence there should be extensive, and it should also include their participation in the training of Afghan security forces and police.

It goes without saying that intelligence is of the highest importance as we escalate our troop presence in Afghanistan along the Iranian and Pakistani borders. We must be able to rely on the intelligence we receive. Our resources in this area must include the best technology and technology support possible. We must engage in every mode of listening, viewing, and analyzing the data that is possible. These tools, while illegal without court orders in the United States, are not illegal from sites outside of the United States, and that is where that monitoring must be conducted.

Finally, in the cases where we capture enemy forces for interrogation, the interrogation must be done by Afghanistan's own security forces. Any U.S. Or Allied force presence during interrogations is to be held strictly top secret, and no U.S. Or Allied military personnel or agents should be involved in eliciting information from the enemy captives, but should immediately take information gained and disseminate the information to the information analysis units.

The Afghanistan Government must begin emerging with a higher and more public profile. We must build a media campaign around the government's efforts to reach out to its citizens, and to create laws to protect them from government abuse, which has been an issue surrounding complaints lodged against government agents and soldiers. This must be addressed, and it must be handled in a way that focuses on warm citizen response to the government. Thus far, too much attention has been brought to bear on negative and anti-government problems which are usual for a government that installed as was the present government in Afghanistan. New rules must be created for corruption, and enforced.