My must read of the day is "U.S. Military Proposal Seeks Shorter Afghan Stay," in the Wall Street Journal:
U.S. military leaders have presented the White House with a plan that would keep 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan after 2014, but then start drawing the force down to nearly zero by the end of President Barack Obama's term, according to senior officials.
The request reflects a far shorter time frame for a U.S. military presence in Afghanistan than commanders had previously envisaged after the current international mission ends this year. The new approach is intended to buy the U.S. military time to advise and train the Afghan army but still allow Mr. Obama to leave office saying he ended America's longest war, the officials said.
Military leaders told Mr. Obama that if he rejects the 10,000-troop option, then it would be best to withdraw nearly all military personnel at the end of this year because a smaller troop presence wouldn't offer adequate protection to U.S. personnel, said officials involved in the discussions.
The White House is now considering two military options, and as WSJ reports, "they all eventually end at zero," with no NATO or U.S. troops on the ground.
A timeline like this isn’t based on logic. It’s based on politics. Americans are tired of the Afghan war, and while that may be understandable, if we remove all of our troops too soon it could undo all of the sacrifices that have been made by our soldiers in Afghanistan.
The U.S. military needs to stay until the job is done. That might not line up with a political narrative or what we want, but Iraq is proof that terrorists will rush back in and overrun local forces if we leave before they are able to keep their nation secure.
Afghan forces can reach the point where they can successfully fend off al Qaeda and the Taliban. Reports suggest that we have started to see something like that in Helmand province earlier this year, but they’re not completely there yet.
Ambassador John Bolton once wrote an article that discussed this very issue. At one point he summed up the need for U.S. forces by saying, "We are not in Afghanistan to benefit the Afghans, but to benefit ourselves."
That’s the real reason for needing to stay and finish the job. Al Qaeda and the Taliban threaten our safety, and if they have the chance, they will bring the fight here.