Revisiting Afghanistan with real exit strategy

[Mass]

http://www.masslive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2011/05/editorial_revisiting_afghanist.html

hen John Kerry argues against a too-hasty withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, even the most ardent anti-war activist ought to sit up and take notice.
After visiting Afghanistan over the weekend, Kerry spoke of the right way to reduce our military presence there. He talked about handing over authority to Afghans. He talked, too, about Pakistan’s failures in our efforts against terrorism.
Kerry was measured, pragmatic, realistic. He envisioned an orderly withdrawal of troops, a transition that would not risk the gains we’ve made in our decade on the ground.
During his campaign for the White House in 2004, the then-junior senator from Massachusetts argued time and again against President Bush’s decision to invade Iraq. It was, he said, “the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
These were powerful words from the decorated Vietnam veteran who had led a campaign against that war after his return to the United States. In his stirring testimony before members of the Senate Armed Services Committee in 1971, he famously asked: Who will be the last man to die for a mistake?”
Forty years later, Kerry, now the senior senator from the Bay State, is chairman of that committee.
Osama bin Laden was killed just two weeks before Kerry’s trip. If there was ever a time to reconsider our mission, this is it. And if there was ever a person - decorated in war, steeped in knowledge, wise in the ways of the world and of Washington - John Kerry is that man.
We invaded Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It was the right war in the right place at the right time.
It’s time to reassess. It’s time for a new course. It’s time for a genuine transition. But, as Kerry says, it must be orderly, well-planned, and well-executed.

[beachmom]

1. Wow. That editorial is a big deal.

I endorse it 100%. I also think that things Sen. Kerry has been working on for a while are beginning to come to fruition. Although not a perfect metaphor (and more in a desperate time), remember when John Warner, GOP Senator from Virginia, said that Iraq had "turned sideways" on the eve of the 2006 midterm election? Well, that was a big deal. I don't think Kerry would do anything to jeopardize Pres. Obama's re-election campaign, but I do think Kerry can edge things forward.