No perfect solution

No perfect solution

Columbus Dispatch: The complex challenge America faces in Afghanistan has no solution that can satisfy a divided public, and the plan President Barack Obama presented on national television reflects the dilemma and the division.

Despite the fervent wishes of many Americans who want to see the troops brought home immediately, Obama has little choice but to respect the advice of his top military leaders and add more manpower to the unfinished fight. As the president pointed out, an unstable Afghanistan is the central breeding ground for anti-Western terrorists and, as such, cannot be ignored. And the danger is multiplied by Afghanistan’s effect on next-door Pakistan, with its nuclear weapons.

Establishing benchmarks

American forces can’t go home safely until Afghanistan is under the control of a competent government. Leaders in Afghanistan and Iraq alike have demonstrated amply their willingness to rely on the U.S. military to keep order, neglecting their responsibility to develop honest, capable police and military forces. Announcing a date when the American presence will begin to shrink could be the only incentive for those leaders to develop the capacity to run their own countries.

Most Americans share a view of the ultimate goal in Afghanistan: get out. Obama’s strategy, unsatisfactory as it is, could be the best approach available for reaching that goal without exposing the United States and Afghanistan to greater danger.