Prayer (And Policy Change) Opportunities

CBS radio's Cami McCormick has been injured in Afghanistan. August is the bloodiest month for U.S. service personnel since the war began eight years ago.

Before Sept. 11, no President would've dared mount a war to unseat the Taliban, notwithstanding their oppressive policies, especially toward women. After the attacks, which the regime enabled, defeating them became a vital national interest. As recently as 2008, Barack Obama could portray Afghanistan as the good (or at least the better) war, arguing persuasively that President Bush's obsession with Iraq had prevented him from finishing the job against the Taliban.

Have politics and the perils of best intentions now drawn Obama into the same treacherous straits that wrecked the British and Soviets? The question for the U.S. must be whether there's a way to protect ourselves and our friends from terrorist attacks mounted in Afghanistan without being drawn any deeper into a war that looks as though it could rage for another eight years.