Choosing not to fight the "War of Necessity"

Obama said it hundreds of times on the campaign trail: Iraq was Bush's "war of choice" that distracted him from the "war of necessity" in Afghanistan. There was the promise that the United States would focus on this neglected but essential front in the war on terror, or whatever the Obama administration is calling it these days. And on this point, I have agreed wholeheartedly with the public pronouncements of the President--the war in Afghanistan is too important to risk losing.

Well, there's some sense now that Obama has not paid a terrible amount of attention to the job of defeating the Taliban. In a televised interview, General Stanley McChrystal has admitted that he's only spoken to the President once since taking command of the theater more than two months back.

“I’ve talked to the president, since I’ve been here, once on a VTC [video teleconferece],” General Stanley McChrystal told CBS reporter David Martin in a television interview that aired Sunday.

“You’ve talked to him once in 70 days?” Mr. Martin followed up.

“That is correct,” the general replied.

Sure, you can argue that the President has had a lot on his plate. But ask yourself: how important can Afghanistan be to Obama if he's putting a higher priority on personally petitioning the IOC to award the Olympics to Chicago?