Andrew Bacevich Is Not Impressed

Our most eloquent and forceful critic of th military solution may be predictable but it doesn't mean he is wrong:

To double down in Afghanistan is to ignore the unmistakable lesson of Bush's thoroughly discredited "global war on terror": Sending U.S. troops to fight interminable wars in distant countries does more to inflame than to extinguish the resentments giving rise to violent anti-Western jihadism.

There's always a temptation when heading in the wrong direction on the wrong highway to press on a bit further. Perhaps down the road a piece some shortcut will appear: Grandma's house this way.

Yet as any navigationally challenged father who has ever taken his family on a road trip will tell you, to give in to that temptation is to err. When lost, take the first offramp that presents itself and turn around. That Obama -- by all accounts a thoughtful and conscientious father -- seems unable to grasp this basic rule is disturbing.

That's Andrew J. Bacevich, Jr., (link). Would be good to hear him weigh in on the other side of the equation, i.e., just what do we do with an aggregation of angry Sunnis, almost within rock-throwing distance of Pakistan's 60-80 nukes?