The Prez Blows It

When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.

-- Kipling
The Young British Soldier (1897)

And nothing much has changed since then.

The British tried it in the 19th Century, and the Russkies in the 20th.   Both with substantially greater investment of men and money than the President proposes now.

If we could win this thing and eradicate Al-Qaeda with 30,000 troops in 18 months in Afghanistan, then OK.

But it seems unlikely we can fully defeat the Taliban under the proposed circumstances.   Even if we did, Al-Qaeda still exists in numerous other countries, not all of them ending in "-istan."

So every U.S. soldier who dies over there in the next 18 months will die for nothing.   For an abstract ideal, yes.   But for an attainable result supporting the national security interests of the United States, no.

It's time to get out, but the President blew it.