In his syndicated column today, George Will declares it is “Time to Get Out of Afghanistan” arguing:

America should do only what can be done from offshore, using intelligence, drones, cruise missiles, airstrikes and small, potent Special Forces units, concentrating on the porous 1,500-mile border with Pakistan, a nation that actually matters.

We strongly disagree. Heritage Foundation Center for Foreign Policy Studies Director James Carafano writes at Politico:

The last thing we need is to repeat the real mistakes we made in Vietnam. Then we lost a winnable war when the left and the right lost heart. The world became a more dangerous place as the Soviets sensing America was in retreat became more not less aggressive. New Vietnams sprouted all over the world…even in our own back yard in Latin America.

The stakes are similar today, leaving AfPak to al Qaeda would be a massive strategic setback for the US. America has the resources and the need to win this war…walking away will only put us more at risk.