Editor’s Note: Each week we cross-post an excerpt of Katrina vanden Heuvel’s column at the WashingtonPost.com.

 

Speaking to graduating cadets at West Point on Saturday, President Obama noted the "ultimate sacrifice" of 78 of their predecessors who gave up their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq. But he did not mention that just days before, five U.S. soldiers were killed in Kabul, bringing the toll of American dead in Afghanistan to over 1,000.

 

As we pass this grim marker, the Obama administration’s strategy in Afghanistan is foundering because it is fundamentally flawed. It lacks a clear, achievable mission, isn’t in our national security interest and costs too much in treasure and lives.

 

The counterinsurgency strategy to win the hearts and minds of Afghans is failing…

 

Read the rest of Katrina’s column at the WashingtonPost.com.