Week of November 23, 2009

Whether Obama can 'finish the job' in Afghanistan depends on what he defines the job as. If it is to build a 21st century Afghan state and crush the Taliban and other Muslim political movements in the Pashtun areas, then I am extremely skeptical. If it is to prop up a shaky but just all right Afghan government and military before pulling out, then his odds of success, while still bad, do rise. 



As for Obama's hope that the US public will rally around the flag, I wouldn't count on it over the medium to long term. His Democratic base is tired of war and of our quasi-martial-law state of siege. If he wants their support, he has to fight an extremely abbreviated war.

Kevin Gutzman

My Medieval France professor, Janet Meisel, once told me that"Anything since Agincourt is current events" -- by which she meant that people had axes to grind regarding anything more recent.  I think she was wrong, and that people have partisan commitments when it comes to the Hundred Years War, too.