At best, military intervention in Afghanistan is a loser. It's been called a war of necessity. Necessary I guess because the Taliban allowed bin Laden and Al Qaeda to function there. As a short term practical matter, it seems like we ought to bail, cuz we ain't gonna' win anything there. And no one has an idea of what "win" looks like. But if we leave, the Taliban is near certain to regain complete control of the country, and it would likely become a terrorist haven again. Great, no matter what we do, we lose. What a choice!

Maybe our goal in Afghanistan is to retain enough military presence to prevent the Taliban from controlling the country and Al Qaeda from operating from there. Not pretty, but what other options are realistic?

Our goal is Iraq is to leave, without it turning into an Afghanistan. Thanks to Bushco starting this stupid war, we may have developed the goal of having a major middle east military base, to keep an eye on Iran.

Sg