The overall problem remains: If we leave, we also leave a vacuum that the terrorists will fill from Pakistan (and who knows in what way also from Iran, possibly). Pakistan is the key but we're limited there, and any fall of the Pak government is likely to result in something worse.

As far as drawing superpowers into Afghanistan to defeat them goes…the world is different now. The global economy is too intertwined. To “defeat” America, they would have to destroy the world economy. That is something only the American financial system can do.

Like you, Mr. Windish; I just don't know what we should do and I, too, am inclined to say we should stay. Afghanistan is not a nation in which we can “nation build”. The culture has no inkling of western culture in which to take root. The Afghani people are traders and have been as long as their history records. Presently, they have a very valuable commodity – opium. They will trade ANY valuable commodity – it's what they do. The west cannot barge in there and say, “your livelihood is wrong and we don't want you to do it anymore”. Those words are Greek to the Afghans.

Unless we step back and totally revamp the strategy, which I believe is happening now; we will never succeed in Afghanistan. Our strategy must include dealing with the opium trade based upon the Afghani perspective, not a puritanical western one.

I, too, feel sorry for the President on this one.