The War is Over. Kiss a Nurse and Start Packing

We got our man. Wave the flag, kiss a nurse, and start packing the
equipment. It's time to plan to bring all our boys and girls home from
Afghanistan. When the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks
rolls around, let the world see that we are on a clear path to
bringing home our troops from Afghanistan and handing back sovereignty
to the Afghan people.

With more
Sherlock Holmes than Rambo, and judging from press accounts, not
much role for the 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, U.S.
intelligence tracked Osama bin Laden to a safe house in a
well-appointed suburb of Pakistan's capital and a small U.S. force
raided the compound. Press reports say Osama bin Laden was killed in a
firefight in the compound and that his body has been buried at sea, in
accordance with Islamic tradition that expects a burial within 24
hours.

Success typically has many authors, and I don't doubt the ability of
some to argue that our occupation of Afghanistan has contributed to
this result. Perhaps it will turn out that some prisoner captured in
Afghanistan by U.S. forces contributed a key piece of information that
helped investigators find bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad,
Pakistan.

And of course it will be argued, correctly, that Osama bin Laden's
death is not necessarily the end of al Qaeda nor of groups inspired by
al Qaeda; indeed, that there will be an incentive now for al Qaeda and
al Qaeda-inspired groups to retaliate and to prove that they can still
carry out actions against the United States.

But whether anyone at the Pentagon likes it or not, the death of bin
Laden is a game-changer politically, for U.S., Afghan and world public
opinion, in terms of the perceived justification for maintaining
100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The world was already bone-tired
of the war in Afghanistan, even before bin Laden's death. Two-thirds
of Americans were saying that the war in Afghanistan wasn't worth
fighting, and three-quarters of Americans were saying that they wanted
to see a substantial withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Afghanistan
this summer.

No doubt there will be a window of celebration and relief now, in
which many will be willing to give the U.S. government the benefit of
some doubt about its future plans.

But if the Afghanistan war continues as it has in the past, this
window won't last for long.

Recall that Saddam Hussein was executed on December 30, 2006. Since
that day, nearly 1500 U.S. soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq. If
the war in Afghanistan continues as it has, public opinion will soon
ask, "We got our man. Why are we still there?"

Indeed, in Afghanistan, the immediate reaction has been:
"Congratulations! Well done! Now it's time for you to leave our
country." The Wall Street Journal href="https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704569404576298672827592448.html">reports:

Osama
Death Strengthens Calls for Afghan Pullout

The death of Osama bin Laden is reinforcing calls for a
quicker pullout of American troops from Afghanistan and strengthening
pressure to end America's longest war by finding a political
settlement with the resilient Taliban insurgency.

It's time to pivot, President Obama. Give three-quarters of the
American public - including the majority of Republican voters - what
they have said they want: a substantial withdrawal of U.S. combat
troops from Afghanistan this year. Announce a href="https://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/s186">real end date for
U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, as Senators Barbara Boxer,
Dick Durbin, Kirsten Gillibrand, Sherrod Brown and Tom Harkin href="https://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/s186">have demanded.
The single greatest contribution you can make to peace in Afghanistan
now is to make it clear to Afghan actors that the U.S. is really
leaving, not trying to maintain troops and bases in Afghanistan past
2014. Make clear that the U.S. is really leaving so that peace talks
can proceed.