Australian air power after Afghanistan

Taking the positives from failures

Later this year Western forces will begin withdrawing from Afghanistan. At 10 years and counting, this has already been America’s longest war; like Vietnam before it, Afghanistan will almost certainly come to be regarded as a disaster. In conjunction with the two US-led invasions of Iraq, the war in Afghanistan has destabilised every country in the Middle East and it has left Shia-dominated Iran and Hezbollah with little option other than to fight against the West and its interests in Syria, Lebanon, the Gaza, and so on.

At some stage the generals – including those from the ADF – who told uninformed politicians they could fight and win so-called ‘counterinsurgency’ wars should be held to account for their 50 years of misinformation. But that necessary strategic audit is for another place and time. The imperative now is to find any positives that might exist amongst the rubble of a half-century of failed land campaigns, and to assess whether or not they are relevant to Australia’s post-Afghanistan defence posture.