‘Ending the wars” has been at the top of this president’s foreign-policy goals since he took office in 2009, without regard for the consequences. His reversal of his pledge to liquidate our presence in Afghanistan and decision to leave 5,500 American troops in Afghanistan when he leaves office in 2017 is a concession to reality, although a limited one.
It has been clear for some time that the Taliban has been gaining momentum, and that Afghan troops might collapse absent American support. The president has finally, reluctantly, reversed course, and only after a near-united front of parties interested in the fate of Afghanistan — from American intelligence and the Joint Chiefs to the government of Afghanistan itself — agreed on the folly of Obama’s planned total drawdown.
Anyone who believes in a gentler Taliban, open to compromise and negotiation, need look no farther than its occupation of Kunduz. Its rule was characteristically horrific and totalitarian. Afghan National Security Forces managed to push the Taliban out of Kunduz, with American help.