George Will recently called for our exit from Afghanistan. The story seems to be building that we simply cannot win – too many enemies, too weak allies, too many other things on our plate…plus, unspoken, a President who is strongly suspected of weakness in this area.
We cannot allow this to become our guiding principle – we must win in Afghanistan. The costs of victory will always pale in comparison with the cost of defeat – and anything short of outright US victory in Afghanistan is a defeat, just as it was in Iraq. Whatever the cost might be, however long it might take, we must persevere until victory is secured.
Now, how do we do that? I’m not sufficiently grounded in military tactics to work out exactly how things must be done on the ground – I doubt that anyone, as of this point, has entirely worked out what needs to be done. Various things are ongoing which probably constitute the elements of a victorious campaign, but I don’t get the impression that we’ve put together the right elements, as I was convinced we had when President Bush announced the “surge” in Iraq. I can say, however, that whatever plan we create must keep the Iranians out, keep the Taliban/al Qaeda in Pakistan pinned down and must, in the end, win the support of enough of the Afghan people that they back our side rather than back the enemy, or even stay neutral.
The troops will do whatever we ask of them. Their performance in Iraq should put to rest any doubt about that – given the time and the tools, they will hit upon the right combination of means to our end. This requires, however, that we remain staunch here at home – and calls for withdrawal, even if well meant by people like Mr. Will, just play in to the enemy’s hands…they do as much today coming from a conservative thinker as they did in 2006 coming from leftist kooks. The enemy does watch our MSM – they do search out signs of political weakness, because everyone in the world has learned the lesson of Vietnam – America cannot be defeated in the field, but only in the White House and Congress.
The task of all patriots is to insist upon victory – to stiffen the spine of President Obama and to quiet the fears of leftists in the Congressional majority who are looking for the first chance to cut and run. We must win, and we can win – all we need is to will it so.
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