Gingrich's Afghan Modernization Plan

Cell phones! Give every Afghan a cell phone, says Newt. The underlying logic is sensible, of course, but not applicable. As I told a friend recently, making sense and being delusional are not necessarily mutually exclusive.  And people complain about "free Obama phones"! (Referring to a policy begun under President GW Bush's administration and in some cases is a state policy by which inexpensive and limited cell phone usage is provided to Americans who meet a criteria based on poverty and employment related measures.  Internet usage is coming soon, by the way.) I wonder what they think of Gingrich's cell phone strategy for Afghanistan....

Anyway, every insurgent and every conflicting tribal leader would, I think, greatly welcome the policy of flooding Afghanistan with cell phones.  The policy would have some positive developmental results, especially if managed in conjunction with related policies, but would provide many opportunities to the insurgents for recruitment, cyberwar, theft and identity theft, and disinformation campaigns.

Foreign policy in U.S. presidential campaigns has never been the high point of serious debate, and has often provided fodder for strategic messaging likely based on exaggerations, especially if an incumbent is running for reelection, although the open election of 1960 provides a good example, referring to JFK's exaggeration of the missile gap between the U.S. and U.S.S.R.   Fear is irresistible, and propagating fear is not challenged in foreign policy as it is in, say, welfare policy, in part because it traditionally plays a relatively minor role in electoral decisions and outcomes.

Containing the violence that will shape Afghanistan's socio-political future is rapidly becoming the priority, and that can happen with an offshore presence. The United States would be better served strengthening relations with neighboring Central Asian societies who also have great interest in seeing Afghan instability to remain in Afghanistan.  Handing out cell phones in Kyrgyzstan makes a great deal more sense than doing so in Afghanistan.