Getting Afghanistan Right

Byline: Talat Masood The war in Afghanistan is in its ninth year. It has been the longest war for the U.S. surpassing even the war in Vietnam, although in terms of casualties and loss of lives far less. Nonetheless, it has proved to be a quagmire and a huge challenge for U.S. and ISAF. Apart from progress in some isolated areas it has failed to achieve any of the original goals that President Bush had set when he launched the military operation in 2001. It is also ironic that President Obama, while still a Senator and during the Presidential election campaign, remained an ardent supporter of the war in Afghanistan. He called it a just war, unlike the war in Iraq that he opposed and did not vote for.