The O-Team's vacillation is proving costly on the battlefield and politically damaging here at home. The primary opponents of doing what needs to be done in Afghanistan are leaders in Mr. Obama's own party -- on Capitol Hill and in Vice President Joe Biden's office.
On the eve of this week's belated White House "review session," 50 Democrats in the House of Representatives signed a letter urging the president not to send any additional troops to Afghanistan until he crafts "a well-defined military exit strategy." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, already on record opposing any troop increase in Afghanistan, says there is "no appetite" in Congress for "escalation."
Vice President Biden supports a "less is more" counterterrorism campaign using special operations troops, airstrikes and unmanned aerial vehicles to attack Taliban targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Unfortunately, this is precisely the "offshore" approach pursued by the Clinton administration after the 1993 al-Qaida attack on the World Trade Center. The effectiveness of this strategy was evident on 9/11.
On March 27, following a "careful policy review," Mr. Obama proclaimed Afghanistan and Pakistan as "the central front in the war on terror," announced a "comprehensive new strategy" for the region and ordered 21,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan -- increasing the number of Americans there to 68,000 by the end of this year. A month and a half later, he made Gen. Stanley McChrystal -- an advocate of pursuing a counterinsurgency campaign -- the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. On Aug. 17, the president declared: "This is not a war of choice; it is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al-Qaida could plot to kill more Americans."
Those statements were true then, and they are true today. The counterinsurgency strategy for how to win in Afghanistan has been prepared carefully by Gen. McChrystal. If Mr. Obama wants to be remembered for something other than playing politics with the Olympics, he needs to bring Gen. McChrystal to Washington and have him testify before Congress -- and soon.
In "Gone With the Wind," Scarlett O'Hara's hesitancy and uncertainty made her an engaging character. Those qualities don't work in the role of commander in chief. As for whether Chicago gets the Olympics, frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.