Does Obama understand what's at risk if we fail in Afghanistan?

Just thinking about what can happen if the dreaded Taliban and their blood brothers Al Qeada are not totally defeated in Afghanistan should chill our blood to icicles. If these madmen take over Afghanistan, it goes without saying, that Pakistan will fall into their hands too. In fact, given the kind of rogues in high places within the Pakistani government, Pakistan will be handed over on a platter. Now, imagine for a moment the nuclear power of Pakistan in the hands of the Taliban, the Al Qaeda and their sympathizers in Pakistan and the nuclear horror they will gleefully rain down on India who will have no choice but to retaliate in kind. And then, voila, the world gets to see a nuclear war.

This is the president we now have: He inspires lots of affection but not a lot of awe. It is the latter, though, that matters most in international affairs, where the greatest and most gut-wrenching tests await Obama. If he remains consistent to his own rhetoric of just last August, he will send more troops to Afghanistan and more of them will die. "This is not a war of choice," he said. "This is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al-Qaeda would plot to kill more Americans."

Obama could have gone further than this. Not only would the Taliban be restored, but the insurgency might consume Pakistan. If that happens, then a nuclear power could become a failed state -- Pakistan's pretty close to that now -- and atomic weapons could fall into the hands of terrorist organizations. India, just next door and with mighty antipathy for Muslim terrorism, could well act on its own. The bloodbath the British tried to limit in 1947 when they partitioned the subcontinent might well resume -- this time with nuclear weapons....