The death of six US soldiers in Afghanistan on December 21 at the
hands of a Taliban suicide bomber brings to 21 the number of US combat
deaths there in 2015. Once again we must confront the question of
national purpose in waging war without debate or declaration. Like
all other battlefield deaths in the Middle East, the Obama administration
rationalizes these latest as being part of “training, advising, and
assisting,” not combat. But those are merely code words for direct
interventions that Congress has not authorized since 2002, in clear
violation of restrictions the War Powers Resolution of 1973 places
on presidential power.
There will be plenty more casualties in the Middle East for years
to come, and not just because of the seemingly permanent US military
presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Consider two recent news items.
According to
a plan not yet formally approved, the Pentagon wants to create
a worldwide string of “hubs” as staging areas for Special Operations
forces to strike quickly against terrorists. Second, most members
of Congress are
unwilling to introduce and debate a bill authorizing the Obama
administration’s use of force in the Middle East and beyond. Thus,
there is no end in sight to the US at war, both because the Pentagon
has found the perfect enemy and because no one in Congress is willing
to stand up to it.
The Pentagon’s plan is to have a forward presence that, in the words
of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, “will enable unilateral crisis
response, counterterror operations, or strikes on high-value targets.”
Not long ago the Pentagon’s mantra was “places, not bases,” so as
to avoid all the political problems, as well as the monetary costs,
associated with a permanent military presence on foreign soil. Now
“places” evidently have been modified to “hubs” and “spokes,” Pentagon-speak
for small-scale leased bases of the sort already in place all over
Africa. Northern Iraq and southern Europe are being considered as
additional hub sites.