Congressman: U.S. shouldn't pull out of Afghanistan at this 'pivotal point'

Though the war in Afghanistan is brutal, the United States-led coalition needs to maintain, or even increase, its military presence there, and help the Afghan people take control of their own political destiny, according to U.S. Rep. Zack Space.

Calling the present moment "œa very, very pivotal point in Afghanistan's history," Space, who spoke with reporters Monday on a conference call during a congressional visit to that country, said the Afghan people he has spoken to tell him they dearly want see the constant violence in their country replaced with order and the rule of law.

"They have had it," Space said. "This is a nation that has to gain stabilization... The people are desperate for help. They want peace; they want stability... They want someone to oversee the administration of justice."

Though the Taliban is violent and oppressive, he said, unless the West helps set up a viable alternative, people in the country will be attracted to any regime that can offer them some kind of legal structure, however harsh.

"That's one of the things the Taliban offered "“ they offered the administration of justice," he said.

Space, a Democrat from Dover, represents Ohio's 18th U.S. House District, which includes part of northern Athens County.

He was part of a congressional delegation to Afghanistan and Pakistan earlier this week, which also included Ohio's U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.

Space lined up firmly behind the notion that the conflict in Afghanistan is, above all else, a war to root out the nucleus of an organized Islamic terror movement.

"I think that this is a war of necessity now," Space said. "I don't think we have any choice."

In fact, he added, with the military situation looking quite dire at the moment, "I don't think anybody can rule out the possibility that we're going to have to send more troops to Afghanistan."

He said U.S. troops in the country are fighting on behalf of the United States as well as for Afghanistan, against "a rabid and vicious form of terrorism that has already proven its lethality," in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.

As a haven for Al Qaeda and a home of fundamentalist Muslim "madrassa" schools, Space said, Afghanistan has become "perhaps the most significant breeding ground in the world for terrorism."

With the results of a presidential election between incumbent Hamid Karzai and challenger Abdullah Abdullah still in dispute, Space acknowledged that Karzai, along with other elected officials in the country, probably needs to address deep and widespread corruption in the current government.

Though the initial U.S.-led invasion after 9/11 knocked the Taliban at least partly out of power, creating an opening for a more democratic form of government, Space said, "Karzai has failed in many respects to advance that ball down the field."

He also acknowledged, however, that after helping arm and train mujahedeen fighters against the Soviets in the 1980s, the United States didn't make much of effort toward "state building" in Afghanistan once the USSR pulled out.

"Following the Soviet's withdrawal, we abandoned Afghanistan," he said. "I think we have taken our eye off the ball in Afghanistan."

Providing advanced weaponry and funding to groups now called terrorist may seem unwise in retrospect, Space said, but "I'm not in a position to second-guess. At the time, it was a good idea. Where we failed was in the aftermath."

What's needed now, he suggested, is a concerted effort to not just fight terrorist forces, but to help build up the country's infrastructure, and to offer a better way to the Afghan people, who suffer from appalling poverty and illiteracy rates Space called "stunning."

"That's the way we're going to win the war, by winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan people," the congressman said.

Although Space reported that he has had to travel under heavy security even within major cities like Kabul, he said he has also seen glimmerings of hope in Afghanistan, including a meeting with Mohammad Gulab Mangal, governor of the country's Helmand Province, whom Space described as "a remarkable guy" with strong popular support.

Ultimately, however, Space said, while he believes Afghanistan can work out a more democratic and peaceful system than what was offered by the Taliban, people in the United States should probably realize that that system "is not going to look identical to our democracy."

With help from the United States, though, he said "“ which will probably have to include military help for the near future "“ Afghanistan can move to "a peaceful, stable middle ground that I think could be accepted by all the Afghan people."