The Slide On Foreign Policy

Barack Obama's assertion to Bill O'Reilly that the surge has succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams is being simplified and ripped from context, but it remains a stupid thing to say. Obama was trying to express that the security gains when viewed in a vacuum were positive, but the political situation remains deadlocked, and until Iraqis are allowed the freedom to handle their own affairs, that will never change. Indeed, withdrawal is the only way to break the deadlock instead of enabling a growing Shiite strongman in Maliki. In other words, the surge was a strategic failure. But the problem with the statement is that you know it would be distilled to that one soundbite, which provides fodder to your opponents while giving you nothing in return. Sarah Palin already used this line on the campaign trail yesterday.

During the primary election, Obama was willing to argue for a new mindset for our foreign policy. Now he's buying in to some pretty reprehensible right-wing frames in order to squeeze out a few independent and Republican votes.

He also proclaimed his "absolute" belief in the "War on Terror," and pledged, once again, "never to take a military option off the table" (not even the nuclear option) against the "major threat" of Iran.

In short, he continued his relentless campaign to purge himself of any of that weak-sister "anti-war" taint that got attached to him in the early days of his campaign -- which was, of course, responsible for his phenomenal rise in the first place [...]

Obama also emphasized the obscene and morally depraved position that has become the Democrat's standard line on Iraq: that the lazy, no-good Iraqis "still haven't taken responsibility" for running "their own country." The arrogance and inhumanity of this position is staggering, almost indescribable. The United States of America invaded Iraq, destroyed its society, slaughtered its citizens, drove millions from their homes, occupied the country and made itself the ultimate master and arbiter of the conquered land -- but still the Iraqis are condemned for "not taking responsibility for their own country."

Not a single Iraqi attacked America. Not one. America's action has killed more than a million Iraqis. But it is the Iraqis who are now "responsible."

Let me add to Floyd's complaint the sustained belief that we have to go into Afghanistan to fight "the real war on terror." This position is not out of step with the emerging Pentagon consensus and even the Bush Administration, which wants to affirm a "continuing war on terror" with what amounts to a new Authorization for the Use of Military Force. These are reactionary positions that fail to anticipate the continuing evolution of the situation on the ground. The criminal occupation of Iraq should be abandoned because it makes strategic as well as moral sense; but moving those forces into Afghanistan now, after years and years of continuous airstrikes have rapidly turned the population against the US would be foolhardy.

The bearded, turbaned men gather beneath a large, leafy tree in rural eastern Nangarhar province. When Malik Mohammed speaks on their behalf, his voice is soft but his words are harsh.

Mohammed makes it clear that the tribal chiefs have lost all faith in both their own government and the foreign soldiers in their country. Such disillusionment is widespread in Afghanistan, feeding an insurgency that has killed 195 foreign soldiers so far this year, 105 of them Americans.

"This is our land. We are afraid to send our sons out the door for fear the American troops will pick them up," says Mohammed, who was chosen by the others to represent them. "Daily we have headaches from the troops. We are fed up. Our government is weak and corrupt and the American soldiers have learned nothing."

A strong sense of frustration echoed through dozens of interviews by The Associated Press with Afghan villagers, police, government officials, tribal elders and Taliban who left and rejoined the religious movement. The interviews ranged from the capital, Kabul, to the rural regions near the border with Pakistan.

The overwhelming result: Ordinary Afghans are deeply bitter about American and NATO forces because of errant bombs, heavy-handed searches and seizures and a sense that the foreigners do not understand their culture. They are equally fed up with what they see as seven years of corruption and incompetence in a U.S.-backed government that has largely failed to deliver on development.

This is not Afghanistan circa 2002, which was happy to be rid of the Taliban and grateful for any measure of security and normalcy. This is 2008 and these people want us gone.

Biden's presence on the ticket means that these guys are not afraid to intervene for humanitarian reasons or even that ill-defined "vital national interests." We cannot allow fundamentalists to run around on the Afghan-Pakistan border but the way to dismantle terror networks is through local law enforcement and lifting up societies with anti-poverty measures that will choke off recruitment. I'm really worried that we've ceded far too much ground on foreign policy, robbing Obama of the uniqueness that has defined his campaign. He's welcome to prove me wrong. Immediately.