Obama is making it easier for alies to skip on Afghanistan

Reuters:

President Barack Obama's response to a call to commit more U.S. troops to Afghanistan will help determine whether wavering European allies boost their own efforts or look for the exit.

Western resolve has been tested by mounting casualties in a widening Islamist insurgency and by a flawed election in which President Hamid Karzai looks set to retain power, despite widespread allegations of fraud.

If Obama refuses a call by General Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, for more troops to avoid failure in the eight-year Western effort, persuading Europeans to do more will be extremely difficult.

"If he doesn't send more forces, it is very unlikely that the Europeans will. In fact, it makes it more likely that some European forces will be withdrawn," said Tomas Valasek of the Centre for European Reform think tank.

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That is what a lack of leadership can accomplish. Obama is doing the enemy a big favor at a time when we should be destroying them.