As it was when the U.S. pulled out of Iraq, President Obama’s vow to bring the war in Afghanistan to a responsible close at year’s end depends on reaching an agreement with the Afghan government to maintain a troop presence in the country.
Obama has plans to keep a residual force there for a period of time in order to maintain stability and contain the Taliban, both in Afghanistan and across the border in lawless regions of Pakistan, where jihadis are active. But President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign a deal, and now the election to replace him is going off the rails.
With one of the two candidates claiming fraud and calling on supporters to stage disruptive protests nationwide, the democratic passage of power that was supposed to be a grace note to America’s longest war is coming into doubt. Fears mount that Obama could be left without a status of forces agreement, as happened in Iraq.
And look how that’s turned out.
The mad dogs of ISIS that came across the border from Syria to form Al Qaedastan are firmly in charge of a vast region of Iraq. They are distributing highly polished English-language videos calling on Muslims to join jihad in Syria and in Iraq, which was liberated from tyrant Saddam Hussein at the cost of 4,500 American lives.
The President has essentially accepted the ISIS conquest as a fait accompli for now. He is sending a 300-member “advisory” force to aid Iraqi forces and gather intelligence while leaving the door open to more robust options, such as air strikes.
Obama’s main thrust is that the Iraqis must take back their own country and should start by replacing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with a leader who can unite the country’s divided Shiite and Sunni Muslims, along with its Kurds. Don’t look for that to happen tomorrow.
Meanwhile, ISIS is squarely in command and will for a long time reap the benefit of having looted a half-billion dollars from Iraqi banks. Imagine the terror you can buy with that bankroll.
Americans are of no mind to send troops back into Iraq. With the country under assault and close to internal sectarian warfare, an invasion would be a tragic folly. So, Obama has lost the game there and he surely knows it. Just as surely, America must not suffer a second such defeat in Afghanistan. He must win there.
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