Holbrooke - The 'Long War' Is In Afghanistan

By Cernig

Richard Holbrooke has a long essay in Foreign Affairs magazine's latest issue, The Next President, in which he sets out the differences between McCain and Obama's foreign policy platforms - including how their energy policies will affect their foreign policy. It's a damning indictment of McCain's short-termism and belligerence but this bit in particular - after noting McCain's acceptance of the Bush administration's policy in Afghanistan - caught my eye.

The situation in Afghanistan is far from hopeless. But as the war enters its eighth year, Americans should be told the truth: it will last a long time -- longer than the United States' longest war to date, the 14-year conflict (1961-75) in Vietnam. Success will require new policies with regard to four major problem areas: the tribal areas in Pakistan, the drug lords who dominate the Afghan system, the national police, and the incompetence and corruption of the Afghan government. All present immensely difficult challenges, but the toughest is the insurgent sanctuaries in the tribal areas of western Pakistan. Afghanistan's future cannot be secured by a counterinsurgency effort alone; it will also require regional agreements that give Afghanistan's neighbors a stake in the settlement. That includes Iran -- as well as China, India, and Russia. But the most important neighbor is, of course, Pakistan, which can destabilize Afghanistan at will -- and has. Getting policy toward Islamabad right will be absolutely critical for the next administration -- and very difficult. The continued deterioration of the tribal areas poses a threat not only to Afghanistan but also to Pakistan's new secular democracy, and it presents the next president with an extraordinary challenge. As a recent New York Times article stated, "It is increasingly clear that the Bush administration will leave office with Al Qaeda having successfully relocated its base from Afghanistan to Pakistan's tribal areas, where it has rebuilt much of its ability to attack from the region and broadcast its messages to militants across the world." Nothing -- not even Iraq -- represents a greater policy failure for the outgoing administration.

Well, hells...

In the first four days of the Republican convention, Afghanistan hasn't been mentioned once. Not at all.

I guess we now know why - because McCain hasn't got a clue what to do.