The Obama administration, known for leaving its enemies cowering in fear (note sarcasm), has recently asked Pakistan to crack down on the Haqqani network, a Taliban group that resides in the lawless regions near the Pakistani-Afghan border. The Pakistani government has flatly refused. Here is where the Obama foreign policy of appease-apologize-retreat comes into plain view and where the “with us or against us” foreign policy of the previous administration starts to makes more sense. The Haqqani network uses Pakistan as a safe haven to launch attacks on coalition troops in Afghanistan and has contact with senior Al Qaeda leaders, in other words, this group has attacked and killed US servicemen and women and is allied with the perpetrators of the worst terrorist attack in our history. Unfortunately, with the current administration hell-bent on a quick surge and a quick withdrawal, it is unlikely that they will take any serious action against this group. In the meantime, while Pakistan “deals” with its own Taliban elements, a terror campaign has swept across the country (as I predicted before the whole Pakistani offensive started) with bombs hitting metropolitan areas and killing in excess of 500 Pakistanis. Just recently, a bomb ripped through a Punjabi town killing 33 as a display of the terrorists’ reach. Pakistan’s refusal to deal the Haqqani network foreshadows a possible cease-fire or peace treaty with the militants, at least some of them, and indicates that the terror attacks are dampening support for the recent Taliban crackdown. Democracies often cannot sustain wars very long, especially when bombs are going off in local markets around the country.

The real problem is the Obama administration’s strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Clearly, if we do not have access to the command center of the Taliban because it is being offered safe haven by a neighboring country that we will not invade, then we cannot easily win the war. In such a scenario, we can only play defense for an indefinite amount of time until we either get lucky or the enemy gets tired. The other option is withdrawal and the president has made it clear that this is his intention. A winning strategy would not have us be held hostage by a neighboring country, but would, through sticks and carrots, have the Pakistanis either let us eliminate these targets within their territory or have the Pakistanis actively eliminate the insurgents themselves (all of them). A winning strategy will not set an arbitrary withdrawal date and publicize it for our enemies to see. A winning strategy requires bold action and listening to our commanders in the field. Already, our quick-paced withdrawal from Iraq has left the country open to terrorist attacks, which, contrary to what the media silence would have you believe, have been unleashed around the country, including within the Green Zone, the ultra-highly defended government area of Baghdad. Arbitrary timelines for withdrawal only embolden the enemy and, as I have heard people say, our surge begins this year while the Taliban-Al Qaeda surge beings in 18 months, when we are scheduled to withdraw. It is sad to see the world’s last superpower retreating before the rise of militant, nihilistic Islamic extremists. We are truly being defeated from the inside out… the irrational idealism of our so-called leaders has given way to the cold hatred of our enemies. We CAN defeat our enemies, if only Obama would let us.

-AG