The Answer is None

The Christian Science Monitor is out with a brief review of the Obama "surge" in Afghanistan, titled "As troop drawdown nears, is NATO surge working in Afghanistan?"

Here is the article's conclusion, which refers to an interview with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen:

For now, the Pentagon will be working closely with the White House in the months to come to determine how best to bring an end to the surge that marked the moment Obama made the war in Afghanistan his own.

For now, America's top military adviser acknowledges that there are no clear answers to precisely how many US troops should remain on the ground.

"We don't know what the answer is," he says. "I can honestly say that no one knows what the answer is yet."

Yours truly has never been to Asia, but given the lack of success the surge has produced and the apparent fact that there are almost no al Qaeda left in Afghanistan, the answer appears obvious.

None. Support the troops. Bring them home.

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