Where Do We Go From Here?

NYT editorial

The alarming resurgence of Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan makes it even more imperative for the United States to begin planning for a swift and orderly withdrawal from Iraq.

For far too long President Bush’s disastrous war of choice in Iraq has leached resources and top-level attention from the war of necessity in Afghanistan. A grim new statistic underscores just how badly things are going there: 46 American and allied forces died in Afghanistan in June, more than during any other month since the war began in 2001. And for the second straight month, combat deaths in Afghanistan exceeded those for American-led forces in Iraq, where 31 troops died.

The recent decline in violence in Iraq is very welcome, but it has yet to be matched with essential political reforms. Instead of planning for a serious drawdown of American troops, the White House is using its self-proclaimed success as one more excuse for staying on. Mr. Bush’s successor will almost certainly inherit an Iraq with at least 130,000 American troops still fighting there.

Until now nearly all of the presidential debate has focused on whether and when a withdrawal should occur. Senator John McCain says he will stay on until “victory” is achieved. But he has not fully explained what that means or how it can be accomplished, much less how it can be accomplished while simultaneously routing militants in Afghanistan.

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