Apocalypse Afghanistan

Never enter a land war in Asia...

Obama has decided to plot a course in the now 8-year-old Afghanistan war that involves more troops, more guns, and more money. In a time where every penny is being pinched and our domestic infrastructure is in crisis, this decision will require a great deal of explanation from our commander-in-chief.

An invasion against Afghanistan was a fool's mission in the first place. If not for the passionate feelings coursing through the American populace in the months following the Sept 11 2001 attacks in New York and Washington, no one in their right mind would have advocated an invasion into the most divided, chaotic, and violent region on the planet. Afghanistan is such a mess that it makes Palestine look like Walt Disney World.

That Obama has apparently decided to dump more money down this festering hole of a mission is evidence that the political pressure from the right has finally compromised the White House. The President and his advisors are so eager to claim the middle ground in order to be well-positioned for the 2012 elections that they have extracted their own backbones. Furthermore, their decisionmaking alienates the Democratic base at a time when they should be trying to lure more liberal voters into the party to shore up support in Congress for the ongoing debates on far more important issues, like infrastructure repair, health care and climate change.