If you read the article Crocker is very critical of Bush and the NeoCons and states what everyone knows, Afghanistan was lost when Lord Cheney put Afghanistan on the back burner and went into Iraq.
Perhaps, but Barry the AWOL in Chief double downed and made Afghanistan his political campaign war to win after jumping on the War is Lost in Iraq bandwagon -then immediately went about setting the conditions for defeat by limiting troop strength, announcing a withdrawal and placing dangerous ROE on our forces there. The taliban and al Qaeda never had a better ally than Barack Hussein the younger.