THE "GOOD" WAR

Posted at 12:25 a.m. ET

Critics of former President Bush often assure us that they regard Afghanistan as the "good war," the one we should be fighting.  President Obama said that, in effect, during his campaign, pledging to devote more resources to the Afghanistan instead of the "bad" war in Iraq.

Not so fast.

There are some signs that the administration, and certainly the left wing of the Democratic Party, might be having some revised thoughts.

First, an American traveler to the region, an Urgent Agenda reader, comments on the Russian pressure that caused the recent closing of an American air base in Kyrgyzstan, a base critical to supplying our forces in Afghanistan:

The Russian effort to close the Manas Air Base comes at a particularly interesting time:

1.  Their push to close Manas comes so soon after Obama taking power that it seems a move to test his resolve, especially since...

2. ...we are right on the cusp of a major expansion of forces in Afghanistan, a time when we will need all the points of entry we can get.

The Pentagon is airily dismissing Manas as insignificant, and of course we will figure out a way around its closing if we must, but I think our quiet acquiescence to the Russian strongarming will be noted for the future by Putin and the boys.

Based on his rhetoric so far, on what basis will Obama say "this far and no farther?"  Where do our interests lie, other than in assuring others that we
have the best of intentions?

Also, The Times of London is reporting that President Obama is balking at increasing American strength in Afghanistan:

PRESIDENT Barack Obama has demanded that American defence chiefs review their strategy in Afghanistan before going ahead with a troop surge.

There is concern among senior Democrats that the military is preparing to send up to 30,000 extra troops without a coherent plan or exit strategy.

Concern?  Or a way to wriggle out of the thing?  That is the question.

The president was concerned by a lack of strategy at his first meeting with Gates and the US joint chiefs of staff last month in “the tank”, the secure conference room in the Pentagon. He asked: “What’s the endgame?” and did not receive a convincing answer.

But the chief of Central Command is General David Petraeus.  It's inconceivable that he hasn't thought this through, and developed a strategy.  That's his strength. 

Leading Democrats fear Afghanistan could become Obama’s “Vietnam quagmire."

Well, there's the old rhetoric again.  We heard that in the first days of the Iraq war as well.

This story is developing, but we're seeing signs that the Democratic left, always opposed to Iraq, may want out of Afghanistan, too.  The ball is in the president's court.

February 8, 2009.