WHERE DO I BEGIN?

The Afghan Mistake

President Barack Obama still has my support overall, but what he is doing with his Afghanistan strategy is horrible and will have wide ranging consequences both for American foreign policy and the political future of his administration.

The key questions we have to ask as citizens are:

--Is sending more troops to Afghanistan and increasing the war expense for this mission by $30 billion a move that will bring sustainable peace to Afghanistan a good investment of lives and money? I say no, seeing as a combination of terrain and intractable foes who are difficult to eradicate have made Afghanistan unconquerable by foreign powers centuries (see Soviet Union, circa 1980-87).

--Is al-Qaeda a conquerable foe by conventional military means? Probably not, since they are a pervasive and wide-ranging terrorist organization that thrives on their ability to remain hidden for long periods of time while they plan and execute their elaborate, lethal civilian terrorist attacks. This does not sound like the kind of challenge that any large military force can handle effectively.

--Why the timeline? To me, this is strictly a matter of political expediency, a way to appease the anti-war left while going into Afghanistan with both guns blazing anyway. Although it pains me to agree with people like South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham (R), if you announce a timeline publicly it does two things you don't want it to do--it emboldens your enemy to wait you out and it puts undue pressure on the troops to achieve something within an artificial timeline which may not be logistically possible.

--Isn't Pakistan a bigger worry anyway? Yes...Pakistan has the nukes, is essentially a failed state with a heavy Taliban/al-Qaeda influence and it is questionable that we will get the full support we need from their armed forces when our troops inevitably drive some of the remaining Taliban supporters out of Afghanistan and over to the Pakistan side of the border. But we have no answer for any of these quandaries because Pakistan is one of our "allies" and if we are too heavy-handed with them diplomaticlally or militarily we could tip the whole country over to the control of the very people we are trying to eradicate.

Afghanistan will define the success or failure of the Obama administration far more than the health care initiative ever will (especially since anything good about the healh care reform legislation has largely been gutted by the Senate and health industry lobbyists). At best, we appear headed for a stalemate and the status quo. At worst, the match could be lit for World War III.

Catch a Tiger by His Tale

Raise your hand if you're surprised that Tiger Woods has more or less confessed to cheating on his wife Elin Nordegren with possibly many women. Um, Elin, put your hand down...you may be the only one.

It's sad that I've come to expect such things from our most prominent athletes, actors and politicians. To those who much is given, much is expected. Expectations are seldom met.

But let's keep a little perspective here...is Tiger Woods still the greatest golfer on the planet? Yes. Does that excuse or justify his transgressions or his holier than thou attitude (or his unwillingness to explain himself or offer any apology until forced to by breaking tabloid news)? Of course not. Let thee who is without sin cast the first stone, but all I want from Tiger is for him to wear his red shirt on Sunday while trying to hold a two shot lead in a major golf tournament. If he proves that his character is worthy of any more than that, I'll call it a bonus, just like I do with any other pro athlete.

Peace...