All winter the American military and White House have been singing the praises of the winter surge that was supposed to rout the Tailban from the south of Afghanistan and make the summer of 2011 easier for the US and coalition troops on the ground. This was also going to pave the way for the US to withdraw troops under a vague timetable beginning in late summer 2011.
Well, the Taliban have shot a big hole in both the theory and reality of these policies.
Last night, 500 Taliban prisoners were freed from a Kandahar prison (in the south) by other Taliban who dug a 1000-ft tunnel under the prison, right under the noses of the military and prison officials. And, copies of cell keys were provided by someone inside the prison so that the prisoners could be freed.
So much for the surge and an imminent withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Let's review the facts.
1. The Taliban are being courted by both Afghan President Karzai and the Pakistan government.
2. The Taliban have no intention of forming a coalition and joining the Afghan government. Their goal is to take back the country.
3. American troops will be needed in the long term if Afghanistan is to be helped to become a functioning government (a democratic one is not really anything but an American dream for the present).
4. The cost to the United States in military and infrastructure funding, and in the lives of young Americans, will be high at a time when America is already living on borrowed funds.
Mr. Obama wants to have a serious debate about the US budget. That debate will undoubtedly never occur.
Perhaps he ought to consider a serious debate about the value of staying in Afghanistan. If he put the question to a vote today, Americans would overwhelmingly vote to withdraw and let Afghans solve their own problems - without the confusing mix of American troops and money to complicate things.
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