What are we doing in Afghanistan today? Why do we stay there? Are we there to build a Jeffersonian democracy? Are we there simply to guarantee that the Taliban will not provide sanctuary to terrorists who will strike America again? Are we there, in the ditty of the Tommys in the trenches, simply because we are there?
I see no hard thinking to determine what the goal of our presence in Afghanistan is. I see no assessment of the cost to attain that goal. I see no way weighing cost against benefit in obtaining that goal.
After these questions are answered, the conclusions have to be taken to the American people for approval. We shall see whether this process is being done.
As to nuking the poppy fields in Afghanistan, that of course is out of the question but it does raise another question, perhaps the most effective and intelligent option we can make to impoverish the Taliban is to legalize heroin here in the United States, thus driving down the price and profits of the Taliban, and to begin to export our own poppy crop thus further depressing the price around the world.
Such a move would undoubtedly reduce the consumption of heroin, reduce the corruption which our drug laws make inevitable, stop the drain of our treasure and even add funds to our treasury. It would mean that, even if we cannot admit that we cannot win the war in Afghanistan, we are sober enough that we can at least admit that we cannot win the war against drugs.
