With No End Game in Sight, the Time Has Come to Rethink Afghanistan

There is no "end game" strategy for the war in Afghanistan.  That is what a military official told President Obama last week, according to an NBC report cited by Think Progress' Faiz Shakir yesterday.  In other words, the ultimate outcome for our military presence in Afghanistan is unclear, not just to the activists and bloggers who have been wrestling with this war at Get Afghanistan Right, but to those inside the Pentagon as well.  If we have any chance of avoiding further catastrophe in the region, we better make damn sure we Rethink Afghanistan.

That is exactly what Brave New Foundation is calling for in a new campaign launched today.  They will hold a series of debates on the issues surrounding this war in the coming weeks, but currently they're asking everyone to sign the petition urging Congressional oversight hearings like those held in 2007 regarding the Iraq war.  Vice President Biden, who orchestrated the Iraq hearings as Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, said, "No foreign policy can be sustained in this country without the informed consent of the American people."  Isn't informed public consent what we need now before committing more troops to Afghanistan?