Opposition to the war is rising, even in the President's own party and even before his new military strategy has been fully implemented. Our ally's leaders look weak and corrupt, Americans are increasingly opposed to the war, and prominent politicians and columnists are saying it is time to leave and redeploy our forces to focus on the real danger to the U.S., which is from al Qaeda.

Sound familiar? That was roughly the state of play regarding Iraq in September 2007, even as General David Petraeus's troop surge and counterinsurgency strategy were beginning to work in Baghdad and the Sunni Triangle. Despite a few shaky moments, President Bush stuck with it, and a looming U.S. defeat became a victory.

We are now approaching a similar pass in Afghanistan, amid rising doubts about the wisdom of continuing that war nearly eight years after 9/11. Evidence that President Hamid Karzai's allies stuffed ballot boxes have tarnished the recent Afghan election, U.S. casualties are rising, and the Taliban enemy seems increasingly menacing. Though new theater commander Stanley McChrystal has only recently submitted his strategic plan, the calls are growing for the U.S. to leave. We are about to see if our current Commander in Chief has the nerve of his predecessor to withstand a Washington panic.

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The great irony of this panic is that only months ago the consensus was that Afghanistan was a "war of necessity," as President Obama likes to put it. Even the left seemed to agree that Afghanistan couldn't again become a sanctuary for al Qaeda, that retreat from Afghanistan would be a strategic victory for jihadists, and that it would weaken our influence in Islamabad and perhaps threaten the stability of Pakistan itself as Islamists tried to turn the Pakistan military and population its way.

Now we're told we can accomplish these same strategic goals merely by maintaining a much smaller force than the 68,000 currently committed to Afghanistan. Drones and special forces based offshore can contain the jihadists, while the Kabul government will have to fend for itself. We thus don't need to "nation build" to achieve U.S. ends.