Afghan War Turnoff

Official results from Afghanistan's presidential election are not due until September 17, and widespread reports of vote-buying, ballot-rigging and intimidation make it unlikely that the final numbers will accurately reflect the will of the Afghan people. But we do have a sense of the evolving sentiments of the American people with regard to the almost eight-year-old US occupation of a country known as "the graveyard of empires." Americans, once overwhelmingly supportive of the intervention, are wising up to conditions in Afghanistan, which, as Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen admits, are "serious and deteriorating." And a majority is increasingly aware that the more blood and treasure we pour down the Afghan drain, the less we'll have to spend on economic recovery, healthcare reform and building a green economy at home. Those who want to protect Obama's reform agenda should seek alternatives to a militarized strategy in Afghanistan.

Mullen's commanders are reportedly readying a request for more US troops. Even without an additional buildup, troop totals are expected to reach 68,000 by the end of this year. President Obama, who now calls Afghanistan "a war of necessity," seems inclined to wade deeper into the quagmire. He's doing so just as many US allies--including a growing number of British officials--have begun talking about an exit strategy.

The American people, conscious that this summer has produced the highest death tolls yet for US troops, are disinclined to follow the lead of the generals or their president. Fifty-one percent say the human and economic costs of continued US occupation are too great; according to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, they oppose dispatching more troops by an almost 2-to-1 margin. The fact that they are turning against this misguided enterprise presents an opening for Congressional critics and activists to check Obama's wrongheaded strategy. Senator Russ Feingold has spoken out against further escalation and for a withdrawal timeline. Almost 100 House members are co-sponsoring Representative Jim McGovern's call for an exit strategy.

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