Afghanistan

A few easy Afghan observations: Biden's proposed strategy for Afganistan sounds an awful lot like Rumsfeld's for Iraq. The Military, being protective of its institutional reputation, and more importantly, the lives of its soldiers, is less likely now, than it was then, to go more or less quietly along with a strategy it feels is dangerously wrong-headed. The administration, in claiming that military leaders who publicly express independent opinions are circumventing the chain of command, is, rather blatantly, attempting to circumvent its own chain of command by keeping key information -- professional military opinions -- from the public it, nominally, serves.

Listening to Candidate Obama, one sure got the impression that there was no meaningful difference between the Taliban and Al-Quaida. While Biden may well be correct that there still is, to the degree that Al-Quaida is primarily operating out of Pakistan, how helpful can focusing on Al-Quaida can be, without either Pakistani co-operation or disregard for Pakistani sovereignty? As the Taliban have been reported to be an extension of Pakistan's internal security service, the administration's sudden, and surprising, willingness to include the Taliban in the future of Afghanistan appears a carrot offered in the hopes of that co-operation.

Given the relative strategic priority, one imagines that the debate over Afghanistan policy is part of the larger effort regarding neighboring Iran. Iran, presumably, would strongly prefer the Biden plan. The administration might view this public airing as a useful support to its diplomacy (playing Good Cop to McChrystal's Bad Cop).

What ever the case, the Administration has, best one can tell, tried very hard to maintain a sophisticated, multi-faceted, diplomatic engagement with Iran. Since Reagan, Conservatives question the general effectiveness of that sort of approach. Obama, now, has a golden opportunity to prove them wrong.