Afghanistan Looks More Like Vietnam Than Ever -- A Commentary

ROTOR WASH - U.S. Marines Corps MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft land in Zaranj, Afghanistan, to pick up British Army Brig. Nicholas Welch, the deputy commander of Regional Command Southwest, May 10, 2011. Welch traveled from Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, with British and American troops to collaborate with Afghan national leaders to discuss progress and problems in the Nimroz province. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Mallory S. VanderSchans

Leaving With Honor -- James Traub, Foreign Policy

After Osama bin Laden's death, Afghanistan looks more like Vietnam than ever -- and for once, that's a good thing.

ISLAMABAD — The almost decade-long American war in Afghanistan has now reached the beginning of the end. All hopes of anything like "victory" have long since vanished, but so have most fears that falling short of victory will jeopardize American national security. The essential remaining questions, then, are what they once were in Vietnam: How fast do we leave? And what do we leave behind? My impression, after a short trip to Afghanistan, is that the United States should leave faster than President Barack Obama appears to want to, but slowly enough to give the Afghans at least a chance to stave off total collapse.

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