George Lopez discusses a new model for Afghanistan
In his introduction to George Lopez, who spoke to a capacity crowd on campus March 10, political science professor Bill Wilson said Iraq has morphed into Afghanistan almost imperceptibly, and we must now see the Afghan war anew. Then Lopez, in his address “Rethinking Afghanistan,” proceeded to revisit Afghanistan with unflinching realism. The Notre Dame Peace Studies Scholar and founder of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies outlined its history and prospects.
Afghanistan has deteriorated while we weren’t looking, Lopez said. “This is the worst structural situation in the world,” he said. Decentralized, widespread illiteracy (28 percent of people over 18 are illiterate); only 45 percent of children in school; only 20 percent of the population with access to electricity, and 93 percent of the world’s opium, the sale of which “funds the ever-more-dangerous Taliban.” The professor summarized the situation, asking, “Can a democracy win in the face of lawless drug runners?” While over 70 percent of the killings are caused by the Taliban-Al Qaeda alliance, U.S. bombings are also increasingly destructive.
Lopez then outlined three strategies for Afghanistan: The Surge to Victory Model, which brought us 10 years on the ground in Iraq; the Peace-Now Model, which claims we’re fighting the wrong war, the war we failed to handle properly after 2001; and the Peace Realism Model, which Lopez promotes, which recognizes that multiple enemy dynamics require different strategies, including a police action against terrorists and criminals, who are destroying Afghanistan and Pakistan. In addition to including Pakistan, we should involve Iran, India and other countries in a Peace Realism Model. “This is the most complex case we’ve ever faced,” Dr. Lopez said. “But we cannot pull out and leave allies to be destroyed.”
Business professor Robert Letovsky, who has taught in Afghanistan, wrapped up the sober presentation emphasizing the need in that country for accountants, for more professional handling of business. He reiterated Lopez’s concern with the mounting violence, often caused by Al Qaeda opponents who call in the U.S. unmanned drone attacks, which are undermining our efforts to bring structural progress to the country. It’s very complex, he said, and we may have to make compromises there.
Lopez also spoke to a class on “Peace-Making in Africa” and to another on “Leaving Iraq.” As The Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., Professor of Peace Studies at the Kroc Institute at Notre Dame University, Lopez’s focus is on state violence and coercion, especially economic sanctions, gross violations of human rights and ethics, and the use of force. He is very widely published and a frequent contributor to high level policy discussions on troubled areas of the globe. :—Buff Lindau
