The Power Vacuum

At some point in the very near future President Obama is going to have to make a choice about what is going to define his Presidency. If he can pull off Universal Health Care then he may be known as the great "Domestic" policy President bringing about the greatest change in this country's domestic policy since the Civil Rights movement. That alone could be his greatest legacy, but what about foreign policy?

The argument for continuing the war in Afghanistan has always been that we have to build up the Afghan Government so that they can defend their own nation from the Taliban threat. Of course that Government has to be established along the lines that the US Government regards as acceptable, I.E. a freely elected Democratic (mostly) system. There is startling evidence that the recent election was so corrupt that it should be in no way considered "freely elected".

So what are Americans and ISAF soldiers fighting for now? Is the Obama Administration ready to walk away from Afghanistan and declare it a lost cause? There seems to be resistance to committing additional troops to try and improve the situation facing the military commanders in charge.

Let's face it Iraq was Bush's folly, or Cheney's more likely, and should never have happened but there were clear reasons for going into Afghanistan. The whole point was to defeat the Taliban and eradicate their influence on the region. The Taliban has not been defeated and if we pull out now you can be sure that Afghanistan will go right back to being a haven for international terrorist organizations.

Mr. Obama, you are painted in a corner. Sorry about that.