Even 'winning' in Afghanistan would include some failures

By Fareed Zakaria
WashPost
Monday, October 4, 2010

Call it the Casablanca routine. Every few years, Bob Woodward releases one of his books and all of Washington is shocked, shocked, by its revelations. This time, it turns out that President Obama is reluctant to commit to an open-ended expansion of the war in Afghanistan; that Vice President Biden argued for a smaller, counterterrorism option; and that military leaders boxed in the president by offering him as the only feasible option their preferred course -- a buildup of troops. Is any of this surprising to someone who has been reading newspapers for the past two years?

Critics of the president have seized on the book as proof that he is a weakling who doesn't have the fortitude to wage war. He should learn from Lincoln, FDR or Churchill, they say, and do what it takes to win. No. Those leaders were engaged in massive wars that threatened their nation's existence. Obama is prosecuting a complex military intervention aimed at weakening a terrorist organization. It requires less Churchill and more Eisenhower, a tough willingness to make strategic choices and impose limits on the use of American blood and treasure. The United States has spent more than $2 trillion in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is understandable, in fact commendable, that the president does not want to write another set of blank checks for the Afghan war.

Al-Qaeda is a nebulous organization, inspiring more than directing other small terrorist groups. It has a base in Afghanistan but according to CIA estimates is down to a few hundred followers there. (It is more active now in Pakistan, another complicating factor.) Weakening the group's base is important, but plots will continue to emanate from al-Qaeda, other groups and lone terrorists no matter how successful the U.S. operation in Afghanistan. Countering terrorist groups around the globe and defending the United States against them is an ongoing business. The war in Afghanistan, in other words, is one part of the broader global counterterrorism strategy, which is itself just one part of a broader national security strategy. It cannot be waged without a sense of tradeoffs or limits.

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