Does Obama believe this war must be fought? Candidate Obama called a nuclear Iran "unacceptable." Yet CIA Director Leon Panetta admits that the recently announced "tough" sanctions will not stop Iran's nuclear program. So the Obama administration accepts the eventuality of a nuclear Iran and has shifted to a policy of management and containment -- the opposite of what Obama promised during his campaign for president.
If Obama believes Iran can be managed, why would he not accept whatever consequences follow from a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan? Why assume Obama was any more sincere about the "unacceptability" of a nuclear Iran than he was when he called Afghanistan a "war of necessity"?
Sen. Obama opposed the war in Iraq. When President Bush proposed a troop "surge," Obama not only opposed it but also predicted its failure: "I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse." When it succeeded, Obama at first refused to give the surge credit for the reduced violence. Obama later conceded that the increase in troops "succeeded beyond our wildest dreams" but insisted that the surge failed to improve relations among Iraq's quarreling political factions. Obama has now appointed the man who implemented the surge, Gen. David Petraeus, but constrains him with a deadline.
What does Obama truly think is the Islamofascists' goal? Does he believe, as Osama bin Laden's No. 2 stated, that the goal is the establishment of a worldwide caliphate? If so, how should we fight if not -- among other things -- by denying the enemy sanctuary in Afghanistan, where terrorists plotted 9/11?
Or does he think that 9/11 was about the "plight" of the Palestinians or about the presence of infidel troops in Saudi Arabia or a response to some other bad thing America allegedly did to Arabs and Muslims? If so, what diplomatic measures will cause Osama bin Laden to repeal his declaration of war on -- and his public call for the use of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons against -- Americans and American interests?
If President Obama no longer supports the war in Afghanistan and is not prepared to make a commitment to win, he has an obligation to get out.