To wrap up a long and hectic semester at UT Austin, I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Paul Miller, Associate Director of the Clements Center for History, Strategy and Statecraft. Dr. Paul Miller brings a unique perspective to the discussion of national security on campus, drawing on his background as a former intelligence officer. Looking at his background and credentials, one would assume that Miller planned for success since birth. On the contrast, Miller had no idea he would go into foreign policy or counterterrorism. After getting his BA from Georgetown in Political Philosophy, he joined the military in order to broaden his experiences. He explains his change in direction quite simply, the occurrence of 9/11. During his time in the Army, Miller became an Intelligence Officer in Bagram Afghanistan and later an analyst for the CIA, specializing in counterterrorism efforts in Afghanistan and South Asia. His conservative position, shaped by his studies at Georgetown, Harvard, the National Defense University, and his own time in the National Security Council, can be seen as a stark contrast to the overwhelming liberal majority point of view on campus. However, it seems that this difference in opinion appears to be a motivator for Dr. Miller. He engages his students questions thoughtfully, respectfully, and challenges them to step outside their comfort zone and their regular patterns of thinking. He approaches topics of national security and foreign policy with a sense of urgency and sincerity, that is rare in today’s world of cynicism and confusion.
The major take away I got from time with Dr. Miller, is that the U.S. is engaging the world almost haphazardly and that we are not doing our due diligence, in regards to national security policy. His main argument is that we are not digging our heels in deep enough to military commitments and belief systems that are in play in Afghanistan today and in regard to radical violent Salafism as a whole. In light of Afghanistan, Miller is one of the rare policy experts who believe that we should increase our troops and funding. We have gone from a 90,000 soldier presence to 10,000 in the past five years and have significantly cut our funding. This was in response to the war fatigue that plagues the American public and if you ask Miller, is also due to America’s unclear grand strategy. Without clear goals defined and explaining how those goals are met by troop presence in Afghanistan, it is easy for the American public to want to pull out. Our presence in Afghanistan has lasted over ten years and many Americans do not feel that there has been tangible victory. A good portion of the public is tired of paying taxes that support these efforts and do not want the U.S. to be caught up in foreign entanglements, especially after Iraq. This is in part what led Obama to adopt a counterterrorism only strategy, forgetting the need for strong democratic institutions, naming it “Afghanistan good enough”.
Dr. Miller simultaneously attacks the orientalist rhetoric of Obama “Afghanistan good enough” and our major troop withdrawal. After working as an intelligence Officer in Afghanistan, Dr. Miller finds this attitude insulting to Afghan people and oversimplifies their strengths and capabilities. Dr. Miller recently had the opportunity to interview Hamdullah Mohib, the Afghan ambassador to the US. In Miller’s interview with Mohib, Mohib states clearly that the U.S.’s decrease in boots on the ground in Afghanistan was equivalent to the U.S. exiting the country. Miller shared, that this policy that has caused over 75,000 Afghan security forces casualties over the past few years among security forces, a number exponentially higher than U.S. casualties during our fifteen years at war. However, bolstering our commitment to Afghanistan is not something that US public is ready for. According to a recent poll by POLITICO, only 20 percent of US citizens agree with increasing our troops and aid to Afghanistan, with the vast majority calling for a decrease.
The irony of Miller’s message should shock liberal thinkers. Many liberals who accuse, most of the times justly, America of orientalism, are guilty of that same accusation in regard to Afghanistan. From the interview between Miller and Mohib, the ambassador sincerely confirms his and his country’s commitment and desire to rid themselves of the Taliban and build a stable state. Miller argues that as a thinking community, we must accept the idea that it is possible to engage Afghanistan with strong military support and aid, while also correcting previous counterterrorist policies and civic engagement policies that were not effective. Although this idea might be hard to swallow for the majority of America, Dr. Miller has chosen a much harder audience, UT Austin liberal students.
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