While visiting Afghanistan in July, I met a U.S. diplomat in Helmand Province who told me this story: He had served in Anbar, in Iraq, and one day a Marine officer came to him, after carrying a wounded buddy off the battlefield on his back, and said to him, \u201cThe policy had better match the sacrifice.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
In Iraq, for way too long, our policy did not match the sacrifice of our soldiers. It was badly planned and under-resourced. Before we proceed with this new strategy in Afghanistan we have to give our generals a chance to make their case, we also have to insist that Congress debate it anew, hear other experts, and, if Congress decides to go ahead, to formally authorize it. Like Iraq, it would involve a long struggle, and we can\u2019t ask our soldiers to start something we have no stomach to finish.<\/p>\n
In short, President Obama has to be as committed to any surge in Afghanistan as President Bush was in Iraq, because Mr. Obama will have to endure a lot of bad news before things \u201d\u201d might \u201d\u201d get better.<\/p>\n
Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently told an American Legion convention about Afghanistan: \u201cLet\u2019s take a good hard look at this fight we\u2019re in, what we\u2019re doing and why we\u2019re doing it. I\u2019d rather see us as a nation argue about the war, struggling to get it right, than ignore it. Because each time I go to Dover to see the return of someone\u2019s father, brother, mother, or sister, I want to know that collectively we\u2019ve done all we can to make sure that sacrifice isn\u2019t in vain.\u201d\u009d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While visiting Afghanistan in July, I met a U.S. diplomat in Helmand Province who told me this story: He had served in Anbar, in Iraq, and one day a Marine officer came to him, after carrying a wounded buddy off…<\/span><\/p>\n