AfPak Day

TW: We are going to go all AfPak all day (but for Ms. Blogger of course who has other matters to cover). We will show two pieces from sources for whom I have the highest regard: a pro-escalation piece from the editors of Economist and an anti-escalation piece from Fareed Zakaria. Then later we will show the transcript of a pro/con debate. Finally tomorrow I will provide my own gratuitous opinions after having absorbed reams of information on the topic.

First though some preliminary thoughts on the on-going debate. As I have said before I think this is a big inflection point for the U.S., Obama and the West. The path chosen will have tremendous influence on U.S. foreign policy, military strategy and the viability of the Obama presidency for many years. Retreating from a morass would be ugly, so would engaging more deeply yet unsuccessfully into one.

Obama is taking some time. Some criticize this process. Such criticism is balderdash. Those on the right pounding the table are not asking for merely a quick decision either way, they are asking for a quick escalation. This stance after Obama has already greatly increased the commitment and after eight years of ineffective and frequently futile policy in the AfPak area. Ready, fire, aim has proven a failure as national policy. That he is not being railroaded into a quick escalation in itself shows character.

Some on the right see continuous, aggressive application of military force as a strategy, I do not. On the other hand, some on the left in this country have adopted (since Vietnam especially but the pacifist strain always existed) an almost knee jerk reluctance to engage military force. "War is not the answer" is their default position. It may or may not be, but their increasing agitation to withdraw is in no way compelling to me.

What we need, desperately need, given our evolving role in the world, our challenged economics and finite resources of dedicated military professionals is policy and strategies commensurate with our responsibilities. Personally I have great hope Obama et al. will make the best choices given that none of them are particularly good and certainly all fraught with risk.