Afghanistan appears to be a gluetrap. You can get in, but you can’t get out. I’ll wait to see what the president announces tonight, but, at best, he’s going to remove the 30,000 troops he inserted in Afghanistan in 2009. And, in doing so, he’s going to get a bunch of headlines and headaches about how he’s not listening to the commanders in the field who, naturally, want as many troops as possible for as long as possible.
Everyone knows that the public wants our troops home and to be done with Bush’s wars. But, it seems we’re incapable of taking that risk. I hope to be pleasantly surprised by the president’s decision, and in our screwed-up Washington, he’s actually going to be bold in bucking the consensus for inertia. In the end, though, we’re not getting out of Afghanistan in his first-term, and unless something dramatic happens, in his second-term either.
