If Mr Obama does shift his stance in Afghanistan, history may record that the clinching factor was last month\u2019s fraud-riddled presidential election there. The White House appears to have found this especially rattling when set alongside General McChrystal\u2019s report. For the general\u2019s chief conclusion is that success in Afghanistan does not depend on killing more Taliban fighters. It depends on winning the confidence of Afghans who have been alienated by widespread corruption under President Hamid Karzai and have little reason to support their own government. \u201cA foreign army alone cannot beat an insurgency,\u201d\u009d is the general\u2019s conclusion. However certain Mr Obama is that this is the right war, he cannot be sanguine about sending ever more soldiers to prop up an incompetent government that has lost its legitimacy. Mr Obama\u2019s main ambition in life is to transform America at home. The last thing he needs is a Vietnam.<\/p>\n