What is Obama's strategy in Afghanistan

Amir Taheri:

Throughout last year’s presidential campaign, Barack Obama lambasted the Bush administration for fighting “the wrong war” in Iraq and ignoring the right one in Afghanistan. Iraq was a “war of choice,” Obama claimed, while Afghanistan was a “war of necessity.”

Repeatedly, he claimed that, if elected president, he’d unveil a new “stronger, smarter and comprehensive strategy.”

In March, in one of those solemn-looking occasions in which he excels, Obama said that the new strategy, which he did not elaborate, was already in place. He speeded up the troop buildup ordered by the Bush administration, and a few weeks later named a new commander for Afghanistan.

That commander, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, lost no time in revealing that the Obama administration had no specific strategy and that his first task was to work one out. By the end of August, he’d drafted a “new strategy” and submitted it to the Pentagon in the form of a 66-page report that included specific steps for moving ahead, as well as a request for still more troops.

Then, nothing happened — until someone leaked the report.

One can only imagine the general’s surprise when President Obama, asked to comment on the leaked report, said he wouldn’t allow himself to be rushed into sending more troops, as requested by McChrystal, pending the development of a “new strategy.”

One might say, Wait a minute! We thought you had a strategy before you were elected, when you castigated Bush’s performance in Afghanistan — or at least in March, when you announced “the new, smarter strategy,” or in June, when you appointed a commander to “carry out the new strategy.”

What of McChrystal’s proposed “new strategy” spelled out in his report? No, the president says he’s still looking for a strategy.

Obama has reportedly set up a special “situation room” to look for a strategy. One meeting has been held, with three or four more planned for the next few months.

As on so many other issues with Obama, we have “on-the-job training” on grand scale.

The New York Times recently quoted administration officials saying that the president may be having “buyer’s remorse” after “ordering an extra 21,000 troops there within weeks of taking office before even settling on a strategy.”

Cynics might say that Obama drummed up the “necessary war” mantra in Afghanistan in order to paint the Iraq war as “a strategic error” without appearing to be soft on national security.

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This looks like another area where President Obama is in over his head. He is being pulled by those in his party who want to lose the war. He would be wise to follow the Bush strategy of ignoring Nancy Pelosi on matters of the use of force. She is in with the loser lobby. Gen. McChrystal is much more knowledgeable about what it will take to defeat the enmy in Afghanistan and his boss Gen. Petraeus has the experience to prove what works.