Bugging Out

According to B. Raman, the U.S. is looking for a "visible and resounding military victory against the Afghan Taliban, which it can project to its own people and to the international community as enabling it to implement its policy of engagement with the ideologically uncommitted elements in the Taliban and thinning down its involvement from a position of strength and not weakness." I think Ram is giving us way too much credit here. No doubt, he's got most of it right. The bottom line, however, is that - graceful or not - Obama wants out. As long as the press can tie a string of Taliban corpses to his shirt tails, they will say, “He has done his job; he’s our hero.”

Will the Taliban allow this to happen? I think not. The Taliban knows that the U.S. is not committed beyond appearances. They may know that, more than a year into the Obama presidency, he is still blaming Bush, even while doubling down on Bush's own (so-called failed) policies. Meanwhile, Democrat prospects with respect to mid-term elections are cratering. For the Taliban, the war in Afghanistan has now become pure sport. They are set on punishing America. With each success they celebrate their own version of the ‘David and Goliath’ saga – their own version of trendy ‘AVATAR’. The Taliban will find a way to deny Obama his trophy. They are committed to his defeat more than Republicans are; they are having fun; they are winning. …while America is simply looking for an excuse to bug out.