By Blake Farmer
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkno/local-wkno-921629.mp3
Nashville, TN – As combat operations cool down in Iraq, they've heated back up in Afghanistan. That's resulted in a string of remembrance ceremonies at Fort Campbell this summer, where 48 soldiers have died since March. Eleven other Tennessee servicemen have also died in Afghanistan during the surge this year. The state's congressional delegation backed the decision to add more troops. With the renewed attention, some elected officials are still confused on the ultimate mission. As WPLN's Blake Farmer reports, others are beginning to lose hope.
Tennessee Senator Bob Corker will be the first to say he doesn't have the answer for gracefully exiting Afghanistan. While the first-term Republican is careful not to criticize the strategy, he says the Obama Administration's approach is confusing.
"We go back and forth from nation building to counter-terrorism," Corker said.
Counter-terrorism focuses on immediate threats, whereas Corker says his idea of nation building or counter insurgency includes establishing a judicial system and promoting economic development.
"I sense just a lack of commitment to go either way. It's sort of like we're in no-man's land. And I sign letters each week to parents and spouses here in Tennessee of soldiers who have lost their lives in Afghanistan. And I think it's important for me to understand where we're going," Corker said.
Nashville Congressman Jim Coopers says, "General Petraeus is not confused."
He says the commander in Afghanistan knows where he's going. David Petraeus plans to begin a slow withdrawal next year. For himself, Cooper is looking for progress, not perfection.
"I'm confident we can improve the situation over there. We're never going to bring Western style democracy to Afghanistan. You can forget that. What we hope for is to make sure the terrorist threat is taken out," Cooper said.
Cooper says the mission should become more feasible now that roughly 150,000 U.S. and NATO troops are in the country. Prior to this year, American forces numbered from 20 to 30,000.
"We'll see if they can do the job. I think they are. They're serving valiantly and well. We should be proud of every one of our troops," Cooper said.
"But it's still an if, not a when?" WPLN reporter Blake Farmer asked.
"It's not a militarily solvable situation. Our troops cannot teach Afghan farmers how to read and write. They cannot make them stop growing poppies," Cooper said.
Even after a nine-year conflict, there remains strong bi-partisan support for the war effort. Brentwood Republican Marsha Blackburn is one of those who called for more manpower in Afghanistan. Now that it's in place, she says the generals should be allowed to do their work.
"They do not need us, whether its rules of engagement, they don't need us tying their hands. They don't need us micromanaging, whether it is with our military or with our support agencies there," Blackburn said.
But for at least one representative from Tennessee, the larger force is starting to look like too little, too late. Democratic Congressman Lincoln Davis of Pall Mall.
"We had the Taliban whipped. Al Qaeda was on the run," Davis said.
But through neglect - what Davis equates to allowing crabgrass to get out of hand in his tobacco fields - the Taliban muscled its way back in as the U.S. focused attention on Iraq. Davis says it may be time to try keeping Al Qaeda and the Taliban in check from a distance.
"I'd drop some hellfire missiles that were guided or even be flying Predators or drones to find out what's going on and every time we see one of their camps coming up, we tell the people of Afghanistan here's she comes down your stovepipe.' I mean, we have ways of preventing Afghanistan from falling back into the hands of the Taliban, and it will not cost us as much as it is today," Davis said.
"So it sounds like you're saying this mission of trying to win hearts and minds is too costly in lives lost and just dollars spent to continue," Farmer inquired. "What I will say to that is when it gets to that point - and it's broaching that now - when it gets to that point, I think we have to take another course," Davis said.
If he were President, Davis says he'd bring the troops home "pretty quickly."