U.S. Scales Back Plans for Afghan Peace

Peace through strength is impossible to achieve when you don’t project any abroad. Obama may not be around long enough to drag us down to third world status through failed economic policy. But his weak foreign policy has relegated us to 2nd rate in the eyes of the world.

But, hey, bin Laden’s dead, so I guess he gets an A on foreign policy for killing one guy.

With the surge of American troops over and the Taliban still a potent threat, American generals and civilian officials acknowledge that they have all but written off what was once one of the cornerstones of their strategy to end the war here: battering the Taliban into a peace deal.

The once ambitious American plans for ending the war are now being replaced by the far more modest goal of setting the stage for the Afghans to work out a deal among themselves in the years after most Western forces depart, and to ensure Pakistan is on board with any eventual settlement. Military and diplomatic officials here and in Washington said that despite attempts to engage directly with Taliban leaders this year, they now expect that any significant progress will come only after 2014, once the bulk of NATO troops have left.

via NYTimes.com.