American problems in Afghanistan arise from failures of commitment

In the current discussion about whether/how/how long/ our troops should remain committed to Afghanistan there are still voices who say, "We have been in Afghanistan for eight years and we are still faced with a dangerous threat from the Taliban. It isn't working. We should just get out of there." Almost three years ago I received an anonymous comment:

I am a senior military officer who recently returned from Afghanistan. It is shocking to me that there is little understanding, or concern, about the war in Afghanistan here in Washington. When one is in Afghanistan, particularly when one is in the field, one deludes oneself into believing that someone is in charge and someone cares what is going on. There is no such someone. I feel particularly sorry for the Afghans.

That was the situation in the fall of 2006. The point is, for a number of those years in which our troops were fighting in Afghanistan our leaders in Washington had little interest in what was going on there.

No wonder we have a problem there now.