Obama may opt to cut and run from Afghanistan
Image via WikipediaPresident Obama’s national security team is contemplating troop reductions in Afghanistan that would be steeper than those discussed even a few weeks ago, with some officials arguing that such a change is justified by the rising cost of the war and the death of Osama bin Laden, which they called new “strategic considerations.”Basing troop levels on Karzai's erratic behavior is a recipe for disaster and a waste of the sacrifices made to date. We need to keep the pressure on the Taliban regardless of what Karzai is up to. Pulling the troops out faster is not going to make Afghan forces any better and is likely to make them even less prepared to take responsibility.
These new considerations, along with a desire to find new ways to press the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, to get more of his forces to take the lead, are combining to create a counterweight to an approach favored by the departing secretary of defense, Robert M. Gates, and top military commanders in the field. They want gradual cuts that would keep American forces at a much higher combat strength well into next year, senior administration officials said.
The cost of the war and Mr. Karzai’s uneven progress in getting his forces prepared have been latent issues since Mr. Obama took office. But in recent weeks they have gained greater political potency as Mr. Obama’s newly refashioned national security team takes up the crucial decision of the size and the pace of American troop cuts, administration and military officials said. Mr. Obama is expected to address these decisions in a speech to the nation this month, they said.
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To even suggest a more rapid withdrawal is a demonstration of the lack of understanding of warfare in general and counterinsurgency warfare in particular. What Obama is proposing is a political decision on a military conflict. He and the Democrats will pay a heavy price for such folly.
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