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Two fact finding trips, two very different views on the state of Afghanistan, also known as That Country Bush Forgot About When He Decided to Invade That Other Country Unrelated to 9-11. I don't say that to be snarky - it feels as if the general American consciousness in 2009 reflects that view, along with a sense of responsibility that we owe it to the struggling nation to, very belatedly, return to the path that once had it as our chief focus.
But is that plan the right one now?
Carol Shea-Porter in Afghanistan:
Afghanistan simply needs more help than the United States alone can provide and the country is engulfed in chaos with no obvious end, Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter said after a recent trip to the war-torn nation.
"It's been seven years now, and really to fix Afghanistan would require an effort that I don't see happening," Shea-Porter said by phone from Washington.
The United States has by far the most troops and money invested there, Shea-Porter said, and fixing Afghanistan would require huge amounts of money and manpower from Europe as well, a political prospect that seems unlikely at best.
Jeanne Shaheen in Afghanistan:
The senators said they were "cautiously optimistic" that the new U.S. focus on the country will succeed more than similar efforts in Iraq, but noted that it will take concentration and focus on the country's civilian side, such as bolstering its government and police force.
Where the U.S. has been bogged down and "distracted" in Iraq, Afghanistan has languished, and the senators said the new focus there should pay bigger dividends since the country is the real "central front" in defeating terrorism.
"This is a second chance for us to get the situation in Afghanistan right," said Shaheen. "Our goal is to turn this country back over to the Afghans.. It's going to have some effect if we stick with it."
Leaving aside how the GOPers will use the first quote to play the Surrender Monkey rhetoric card, and how the Out-of-Afghanistan-Now crowd will be depressed by the second, what is the best path for our role in Afghanistan, and for that matter, Pakistan?
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