Afghanistan is the correct place to be and we are doing the correct thing. We have our best military there and the best leadership. The Marines are not in Anbar any more they are in Afghanistan.

AF/Pak is critical. If we pull out, it is chaos with atomic weapons. From Afghanistan we put pressure on Pakistan to do what they are doing right now; attacking the Taliban. Why have they not done this seriously before? That is another story.

The Taliban and Al Quaeda are getting ground down on both sides of the border. The Taliban is suffering casualties so high that the news adds their numbers into the total of ‘violence’. The tribal people along the border are often turning against them. This is good. Does it make the cut-and-run main stream press? Not so much.

The Afghan Army has courage and is fighting. Are they as far along as the Iraqi Army? Well, er, no.

And both Pakistan and Afghanistan have epic corruption and foolishness. Both countries have fairly honest elections. They need and deserve our help. We have to be smart. And we have to stay the course.