Obama's Plan For Afghanistan

From the New York Times:

President Obama said on Friday that he plans to further bolster American forces in Afghanistan, increase aid to Pakistan, and for the first time set benchmarks for progress in fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban in both chaotic countries.

In strikingly ominous tones, Mr. Obama warned — just as President George W. Bush did repeatedly over the years — of intelligence estimates that al Qaeda "is actively planning attacks on the U.S. homeland from its safe haven in Pakistan. The situation is increasingly perilous."

Some on the left will balk at the President's statement. It reeks of Bush-speak. However, had the previous president not taken his eye off the ball in 2003 the situation along the Afghan-Pakistani border wouldn't be so perilous. Our unnecessary venture into Iraq left a wide opening for al-Qaeda to regroup and the Taliban to return to power. (Don't let the right-wingers tell you that Bush won the "war on terror." Just because we haven't been attacked since 9/11 doesn't mean we won't be. And, God forbid, if and when we are, we'll all be able to point to Mr. Bush's stunning decision to focus on Iraq rather than al-Qaeda as the reason terrorist groups were able to carry out such an attack.)

Like the banking crisis and economic downturn, the situations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are big huge shitty messes - the result of extreme incompetence and mismanagement by the government of George W. Bush. President Obama and his team are working around the clock to try and clean things up and put our foreign policy back on steady footing. At first blush, this new policy for Afghanistan and Pakistan is a step in the right direction.

But...

I hope the President, along with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, realize that success against these radical jihadists will not come from military ventures alone (the British and the Soviets tried...and failed). Non-military police actions, conducted by both American and Pakistani intelligence agencies, are the best bet to close down existing terrorist bases and to prevent future camps from opening.

Like his handling of the economy, most Americans will give the new president some wiggle room here. But if things begin to look Bush-esque - if the Afghan/Pakistan venture turns into a money-sucking quagmire - they will turn on a dime.

That said, I trust this team implicitly to adjust decisions and policies when the situation requires it. I'm just sayin'...