We elect a president because somebody has to be the final arbiter of strategic decisions. So far in his career, our president has either run away from making decisions by voting “present” when the kitchen was getting too hot for his comfort, or brandished contrived decisions like closing Gitmo within 12 months, against all professional advice. Some presidents are slower than others in discovering that they are not God’s ambassador, and they actually have to face the music. Late is better than never. In this case, the real question is “what is best for the long term interests of the nation?”
Personally, I think that concluding the war with honor, that is bringing security to the Afghan population, as we have done in Iraq, is the right way. We keep hearing that the Afghan institutions are corrupt. I don’t see this as the correct analysis, because a government cannot be corrupt before it really exists. In fact, the institutions have not been truly created, and they cannot come to life until the people feel secure, and see the benefits of sharing interests worthy of being delegated to solid institutions. If that does not happen, they will stay as fractious as they are now, and we’d be wasting our blood and treasure forever. We can pretend that their institutions are too corrupt to be helped, but what we are dealing with is simply unresolved loyalties, which we can help resolve, as we did in Iraq.
If the national sentiment is going the other way, and nobody makes the case to them, (only a president can do that), the pursuit of the war will result in defeat because armies don’t win wars, nations win wars. So, it’s not just a test of our chief executive, it’s also a test for all of us, ultimately.
Right now, I’m nervous, because he seems to hesitate. Is he waiting for enough polls to see whether we would back him if he backs the field commanders? Would he heed the outcome of such polls if they show national resolve to see the counterinsurgency through? If his personal inclination opposes the national sentiment, is he going to persuade us, or is he going to go to war against us, as he stubbornely keeps doing on health care?
