Getting Afghanistan Right

Today another blog where I post is presenting a collection of commentary about Afghanistan. I recommend a visit there, but for those of you who don't know The Seminal, here is an excerpt from one of the posts, by Alex Thurston.

Presidents can’t just snap their fingers and make policy - they maneuver within constraints. So even though I was disappointed by the strategy review on Afghanistan, I don’t blame Barack Obama.

I blame the “experts” - some of them from our side - who not only give the President bad advice, but also reduce the space he has to make tough choices about a conflict with no military solution.

We need to break the silence on Afghanistan - and that includes shining a spotlight on some of the players in the current “debate.”

On the right, we see some familiar characters. John McCain and Joe Lieberman recently called Afghanistan “our must-win war” and urged an open-ended counterinsurgency campaign there. With McCain as their ringleader, neocons at AEI, the brand new Foreign Policy Initiative (better known as PNAC 2.0), and Max Boot also urge escalation.

I’m sure all those right-wingers have President Obama’s - and America’s - best interests at heart.

The post goes on with stands taken by left leaning bloggers, and gives a good rundown of many approaches to solving our problem of getting Afghanistan righted. Of course, Alex gives cites there that you might find it useful to follow for background.