Debating the U.S. Role in Afghanistan

The video above from MSNBC notes the surge of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and gives a quick update on the state of the war there. The U.S. Army is encouraging debate on the war in Afghanistan and in this blog post they note several different voices in the debate including those who ask if Afghanistan really matters. The debate is also taking place over at the Democracy Arsenal blog. This debate is interesting to me because it counters the idea that fighting the war in Afghanistan, no matter how long it takes, is directly justified by the 9-11 attacks. Even those who objected to the war in in Iraq generally saw Afghanistan as the “good war.” This op-ed in The Washington Post by the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan notes that the upcoming election in Afghanistan will be a turning point in the international effort to stabilize that country. Does the debate about Afghanistan signal a weakening of resolve, or a necessary reappraisal before we dedicate ourselves to a much more difficult, and deadly, phase of the war?