I'd be willing to bet that the private talks between him and his close and intimate friends and relationships are absolute anguish over this issue Bowser. He's painted into a corner on this one.

Iraq we can eventually pull out of and, after a possible blood bath there, they will once again settle into a functioning country ruled by some ruthless authoritarian dictator who will lay down the rule of law. That fits the culture of the area.

Afghanistan is a whole different teapot. If we were to pull out of that country in the near term (or in my opinion ever) it will revert back to pre-9/11 status, a lawless frontier ruled by Taliban and Al Quaeda thugs and become a breeding ground for people that will do us and the rest of the world harm. You know as well as I do that Obama is smart enough to be fully aware of this but what would you have him do? He can't pull out the forces that are already there because of what I just said and if he doesn't reinforce them, they're sitting ducks.

I think the eventual solution there has to be a global cooperative but, in order for that to happen, we have to go into a holding mode to give the time to put it together. I would even imagine letting the Soviets be a big part of that solution. People forget that they've been targets of terrorism in the past as well and it's in their best interest to not allow countries on their borders to deteriorate into armed camps of criminals. The strategic advantages of controlling that region are just about non-existent other than some pipeline routes which are as much trouble as they are lucrative.

But imagine if he started brainstorming the things I'm saying now. "We'll enter into a pact with the Soviet Union to control the area." His political future would be over because all the commie conspiracy folks would cry foul and attack unmercifully.

I appreciate the criticism of the policy though. It has to be part of the dialogue that these overseas wars are a waste of our time. It's a bit too late however for that land. We broke it and have to fix it or ensure it doesn't get worse but we also have to make sure we don't get ourselves into crap like this in the future.

Art