The unpopular, un-democratically elected leader.

Sorry, its Bush's Vietnam. Obama is just cleaning up his mess.

Mike, the way for Obama to clean it up is the get the hell out of there, period. He is talking about getting in deeper.

The economy isn't his fault either, but at some point the new president just becomes the president, and what he does do or does not do, counts.

Obama preached the same "finish the job in Afghanistan" line which all the Democrats spouted in response to charges of being "soft on terror" by the right wing in regard to their citicisms in Iraq. We couldn't fight in Iraq, they said, because it was a "distraction from Afghanistan, which is where the people who attacked us on 9/11 are."

Well, of course that is nonsense. The people who attacked us on 9/11 either died in the attack, died in bomb strikes in the Hindu Kush within a few weeks of the event, or fled to Pakistan. The people we are killing in Afghanistan have no more to do with 9/11 than you or I do. These are just nutjobs with Korans and AK-47s, but they are not master international terrorists.

We can not pacify and stabilize Afghanistan and ensure that it never again has a government which is in league with Al Queda. Even if we could, it would require a couple of generations of US military presence in the hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and a monetary commitment which could quite literally bankrupt the US federal government.

But here's the kicker: even if we could "finish the job" it would do virtually nothing to minimize Islamist terrorism in the world. Nothing. We have done as much there as we possibly can.

Obama is doing what LBJ, who inherited Vietnam, did: he is getting us in deeper.

Its a no-win situation for Obama and the people of Afghanistan. If we leave now, chaos will ensue and Obama will be accused of being soft on terrorism and for going back on his campaign promise. If we stay, he'll be compared to LBJ. I don't envy the guy.

Personally, I am just going to try that the guy has more information than I do and hope he does what is best for the Afghan people and for the US.

You're absolutely right about a no-win situation. He will forever be called (by Republicans) "the president who lost Afghanistan." They would throw in charges of him being in league with terrorists too. And if we stick in there and get deeper into the hole, he'll be called "the president who got us into a quagmire."

It would take enormous political courage for him to do the right thing, which is just to pull the plug on that project. He's just got to do it. Ironically, it would be far easier for McCain the war hero to get out of Afghanistan, politcally speaking.

mike in nm do your research, actually Bush would be more like one of the earlier presidents, Obama would qualify as Nixon or one of the other Presidents that made it a disaster, don't get me wrong Bush is an idiot too, but Obama is the one trying to call occupation a just war... thats not Bush anymore ;) Eventually Obama has to get credit and blame. Sorry.Plus he's supporting a dictator just like America did in Vietnam, after being told by advisers that a legitimate gov't was more important than a fraud protected by the military. Hey if you want to blame Bush for Obama's issues good for you. Denial is a beautiful thing, just ask Bush supporters, who you are acting just like.

...but Obama will be judged by what he makes of it, I agree.

...that Bush is LBJ and that Obama would be Nixon? At least in regard to Vietnam/Afghanistan, that is. In terms of social policies, those comparisons are exactly backwards...:)