The Endgame Is Now In Play In Afghanistan

U.S. soldiers embark a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft on Bagram Airfield as they complete their tour in Afghanistan, Jan. 29, 2013. The aircrews are assigned to the 455th Expeditionary Air Wing, Air Mobility Command. The C-17 is the backbone of U.S. Air Force strategic airlift operations supporting coalition forces in Afghanistan. U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Henry Chan

Afghan Endgame -- Mark Thompson, Time

No longer any point in pretending. The U.S. is in such a rush to pull out of Afghanistan, it is risking the sacrifice of 2,086 U.S. troops and more than a half-trillion dollars to put the “graveyard of empires” in its rear-view mirror.

President Obama declared in his State of the Union address Tuesday night that 34,000 U.S. troops now in Afghanistan will come home within a year. That will slash the total U.S. troop presence there from the current 66,000 to 32,000.

“This drawdown will continue, and by the end of next year our war in Afghanistan will be over,” Obama declared, as Vice President Joe Biden rose and applauded behind him, while House Speaker John Boehner remained resolutely seated. “It’s true different al-Qaida affiliates and extremist groups have emerged — from the Arabian peninsula to Africa. The threat these groups pose is evolving. But to meet this threat, we don’t need to send tens of thousands of our sons and daughters abroad, or occupy other nations.”

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My Comment: After 11 years of war .... it is time to leave. And while it would be probably ideal to keep anywhere from 20,000 - 30,000 U.S. soldiers in the country .... the fact is that there is no longer any political will among U.S. politicians and the U.S. public to keep troops in Afghanistan any longer. Elections have consequences .... and the electorate voted for leaders who have committed for our withdrawal.