Tracey Barnett: Afghanistan needs No 8 wire approach

Dear Prime Minister: If Hillary Clinton's polite new request for more combat troops in Afghanistan is sitting patiently in your in-box, let's make it plain. Tell her we prefer to fight carrying No 8 wire. We want to build bridges, not detonate them.

By next September in 2010, it will be nine years and counting that we will have committed troops to Afghanistan.

Currently we have 150 nation-building troops, known as provincial reconstruction teams [PRT], in the comparatively safe Bamiyan Province. We have every reason to be proud of the excellent work they are doing such as building roads, health clinics and irrigation projects at a cost to us of $41.5 million annually. They're doing good work in a hard place.

But a new American administration is calling, one that looks a hell of a lot prettier than its predecessor, and they want our fighting boys back, the special forces of the SAS that left after three tours in 2005. Don't answer the call.

Mr Key, my hope is that when you sit at your desk at night reviewing your Afghanistan folder, you are asking the same stark, realistic questions Barack Obama is; what will renewing our combat troops accomplish?

Our deployment numbers would be small enough that it won't change the face of this war, so it is the act of making that commitment, and our perception in the world that may sit in your ruminations.

What will that perception say to the world stage? That we have to continue proving we are good global citizens after nine long years by bringing SAS troops back to risk their lives again? That we have not already done enough heavy lifting? It's just a fragment of fate that Willie Apiata didn't come home in a box instead of with a medal pinned to his chest.

Will it say that this is New Zealand's affirmation of America's new troop surge because you, Prime Minister, also believe this is the path to winning this increasingly ugly war?

Many call this cancerous conflict unwinnable. Historically, Afghanistan spits out its enemies, as the graveyard of the British and the Soviets before us have shown. If this is purported to help the American exit strategy, dream on. Our "out" door is just swinging to Pakistan.

I understand you want to signal your support for a new US administration that may actually be moving its world view more in line with New Zealand's in the Middle East and Iraq, among others.

I understand that the greater question may be, what sort of signal would it send if New Zealand said no to a powerful ally with whom we are ready to re-build bridges? But we've danced this dance before and we can do it again - with subtlety and respect.

You have a choice, Mr Key, a middle way, that I believe better reflects who New Zealand sees itself as on the world stage. Maintain, or even increase, our already committed PRT troops through next year as a gesture of political solidarity, but do not go the next step and risk New Zealand lives for this quagmire. European allies are asking themselves the same questions.

Worldwide, our military presence should signal help not harm - unless combat troops are needed in our region. It is then that they are essential. Our eyes should be focused to Asia and the Pacific Rim, our future.

New Zealand has a valued reputation for having independent judgment on the world stage. We have a great advantage because we are small.

We can wield a scalpel instead of a grenade and still pull in the political brownie points to get what we need from the big players.

Our heavy lifting can look different and still be politically effective. Isn't that how New Zealanders would rather define themselves?

Recently The Global Peace Index ranked New Zealand the most peaceful nation on Earth. Why did this achievement not scream in banner headlines from every news outlet in this country?

I see the 20-year-old faces of my fellow Americans dying in two wars by the thousands, broadcast nightly in silence on the US evening news. It is in those silent moments that I most understand what a rare and precious gift New Zealand holds in its hand.

Like an act of war, waging peace is a currency, a tool with political value. It is why people want to immigrate here.

It is one reason why China wanted to offer free trade with our stable Government that threatens no others. It is why investors don't fear our trade routes or stability will be compromised.

A new floodwall in an Afghan village may not look quite so handsome as Willie Apiata on Anzac Day. But none of us should ever have to see our son or daughter come home in a box when fate won't have been as kind.

www.traceybarnett.co.nz