George,

So now Obama is getting caught up in a "winnable war" in Afghanistan--he might have better luck trying to plow the sea.

The French Prime Minister, Georges Clemenceau during WW-I said, "war is too important to leave it to the military alone." Obama is listening to the "generals alone."

Generals are firmly committed to the idea that it is easier to make war than to make peace! Obama needs to recognize that no matter how many troops or taxpayer dollars he throws at the war in Afghanistan, it is NOT winnable. It is not a war based on battle lines or invasions, it IS a war based on ideology and a fanatical religious belief. It is a culture we can't possibly understand or change and those who we fight think it is honorable to commit suicide and fight on forever for their cause. Not unlike a hydra, no matter how many "heads" we remove, more will take their place, and in the process many innocents will be killed as "collateral damage."

We lose on all fronts!

So even if the "fire" is momentarily extinguished, it will re-ignite immediately after "victory" is declared!

Bush had the opportunity to remove the "cancer" when it was almost totally under the dictates of Osama bin Laden, but that opportunity was lost forever after Bush decided Iraq would be an easier target because Saddam Hussein had been labeled "Public Enemy Number One!" and the gullible public and media bought in to the Josef Goebbels version of the BIG Lie and were blindsided by WMDs and regime change!

Even after Bush's envoy, Karen Hughes announced the "liberation" of the women of Afghanistan, for example, the Taliban and even our stooge, President Karzai, support the total repression of women imposing Sharia Law, a barbaric practice that largely exempts men from practices that can get a woman stoned to death (with rocks!)

A Phi Beta Kappa brain is not required to see the futility of this ridiculous war, aside from the begging needs domestically and the horrific costs in human lives and treasure.

President Obama has a big task in securing an end to the health care crisis in our nation. A war with no possibility of a reasonable resolution is a serious distraction and should end.

Harry Tenney (Electronic mail, August 27, 2009)