Afghanistan Victory a 'Romantic Wish'

Rachel Maddow fired one across the administration's bow last night in a lengthy piece breaking down its strategy behind the war in Afghanistan. She acknowledges that setting up an Afghan government is a vital US interest. "The administration's argument for staying in Afghanistan and what to do there is logical," she said on MSNBC. But "it depends on a premise that is romantic, and unproven, and, I believe, unlikely."

Maddow argues that nation-building is not a military function. "The 82nd Airborne can do many things but it can't make the governor of Nangarhar Province not corrupt," she said. So if we don't think the Afghan government will step up—and she doesn't—"then asking Americans to die in Afghanistan is wrong. It's over. ... It's not partisan. It's not even passionate. It's rational. Horribly, horribly rational."
(More Rachel Maddow stories.)