Joshua Foust quoted in Canadian Press Article
Source: Canadian Press, March 11, 2012
Joshua Foust, a fellow at the American Security Project, said the latest incident plays into fears in Afghanistan about the motives of American soldiers.
Foust pointed out there’s already a belief in Afghanistan “that American soldiers are fighting a war in ways they really don’t care for, to put it mildly,” he said.
“This just adds to those concerns. And that will dramatically increase the amount of pressure that’s present for Americans to withdraw as quickly as possible.”
That pressure won’t just come from the Afghans, Foust added, but stateside too.
“There’s growing opposition to the war, in U.S. Congress and beyond, because it’s bringing up all sorts of uncomfortable memories about Vietnam and questions, even though this is a somewhat freak event, about what kind of war are we waging if our soldiers are snapping this way.”
American forces, Foust adds, have learned painful lessons in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Canadian withdrawal.
“There was this tacit belief in the U.S. that Canada had somehow failed in Kandahar and now the adults were finally in charge. But they’re finding out the problem wasn’t Canada, the problem wasn’t the U.K., the problem is Afghanistan.”
