The Best Damn Reason Ever to Get the Hell Out of Afghanistan

Via Politico:

Prominent conservative foreign policy thinkers and activists who backed the Iraq war are circulating a letter to President Obama supporting his engagement in Afghanistan against criticism from left and right, and urging him to stay the course.

At least they're not calling it a cakewalk.

Seriously, it's time for this nation to have a very serious, sane discussion of our intervention in Afghanistan. The conservatives challenge Obama to "...free Afghans from the chains of tyranny, and keep America safe...to fully resource this effort, do everything possible to minimize the risk of failure, and to devote the necessary time to explain, soberly and comprehensively, to the American people the stakes in Afghanistan, the route to success, and the cost of defeat."

I, too, challenge the president to explain, soberly, comprehensively and realistically what America gets for all that blood and treasure. Maybe he should read this book in preparing his explanation. He is indeed dealing with "the logic of human messiness" which is seldom amenable to change by force of arms.