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OUR VIEW: Showing a light at end of tunnel to Taliban? n DESPITE CONCERNS OVER DEADLINE, U.S. AFGHAN MISSION ISN'T OPEN-ENDED

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September 3, 2010

WHEN PRESIDENT BARACK
OBAMA FINISHED A REVIEW OF HIS STRATEGY IN AFGHANISTAN LAST FALL HE SET WHAT WAS WIDELY CONSTRUED TO BE A DEADLINE FOR THE U.S. TO BEGIN WITHDRAWING. AT THE TIME, SETTING A JULY 2011 TIMETABLE WAS WIDELY CONSIDERED A MISTAKE, ALLOWING THE TALIBAN TO SEE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL.

Since then, Obama's commanders have been edging away from that deadline, including overall Afghan commander Gen. David Petraeus, who described it as "the date that a process begins that is conditions-based," and that depending on the conditions on the ground he reserves the right to recommend against any withdrawal whatsoever.

Obama was likely trying to placate his war-weary base among liberal Democrats, who have so far largely held their fire on escalating the war but could pose problems if they mobilize as a peace party similar to the "doves" who sent Lyndon Johnson back to Texas in 1968. But as was pointed out, the president had several audiences, one of them being the Taliban.

And now comes authoritative word that the deadline, as many suspected it would, is giving Taliban leaders hope that if they can only hang on until next July, they will have won the war that started nine years ago in the wake of 9/11.

Marine Corps commandant Gen. James Conway, who is retiring this fall, said the deadline was "probably giving our enemy sustenance." Conway believes it will be "a few years" yet before the Marines can turn over the province to Afghan government forces. That does not bode well for beginning to leave next July, and in fact, Conway is said to be preparing the Marines for the war continuing past the deadline.

Afghanistan, which not too long ago ranked with Timbutku as a synonym for geographic oblivion, has been called "the graveyard of empires." Britain fought to a standstill there during the 19th Century and an ill-advised incursion by the Soviet Union in the late 1970s was a major factor in its subsequent implosion. The United States has been involved there for nearly a decade. How much longer must we remain before realizing that whatever goals we may have had back in 2001 may never be achieved?

The Bush administration's decision to wage war in Afghanistan, unlike the invasion of Iraq, was directly linked to the events of 9/11. There is no question that the Taliban was offering sanctuary to Osama bin Laden and those who masterminded the terrorist attacks on this nation. In hindsight, the U.S. should have mobilized its forces and focused on finding bin Laden and bringing him to justice while he was within our grasp -- as he was in the caves of Tora Bora shortly after 9/11. Instead, it became diverted by Iraq and the Taliban, although toppled from power in Kabul, gained time to regroup itself. Now, with Iraq more or less out of the way, we find ourselves re-engaged in Afghanistan in what might well be an open-ended war.

If the July 2011 deadline can be reasonably met, it ought to be. We cannot remain in Afghanistan forever.




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