Like Father, Like Son

There is little wisdom or boldness in the new [Afghanistan] strategy. It's more like a 50/50 mix of hot coffee and cold cream, a compromise between national interests and domestic politics that makes the strategy neither one nor the other.

Like Mr. Bush before him, Mr. Obama is trying to win the AfPak war on the cheap while minimizing political risks.

And what will be the result?

Unless we speed up progress in AfPak, we are on the road to a slow, painful failure. If we are going to fight with half-measures, we should pull stakes and come home. Despite the backslapping going around, with Pakistan ready to lap up billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars while corrupt Afghan officials are excited to see more billions flying in their direction, the pungent reality is that the latest "plan" is a plan to fail.

Michael Yon is a writer and former Green Beret who has spent more time in Iraq and Afghanistan with U.S. and British combat forces than any other journalist.

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