Enlarge By David Guttenfelder, AP In Afghanistan: U.S. troops swarm the south in an intensified hunt for the Taliban. USA TODAY OPINION USA TODAY OPINION Columns In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes a variety of opinions from outside writers. On political and policy matters, we publish opinions from across the political spectrum. Roughly half of our columns come from our Board of Contributors, a group whose interests range from education to religion to sports to the economy. Their charge is to chronicle American culture by telling the stories, large and small, that collectively make us what we are. We also publish weekly columns by Al Neuharth, USA TODAY's founder, and DeWayne Wickham, who writes primarily on matters of race but on other subjects as well. That leaves plenty of room for other views from across the nation by well-known and lesser-known names alike. Contributors Board

How to submit a column How did such a smart president as Barack Obama trip over such an obvious non sequitur? That the U.S. should have pursued 9/11 terrorists into Afghanistan in 2001 is not a reason to be there 10 years later. For proof, he only needed to go to Walter Reed Army Medical Center and see the cost of this misadventure in human tragedy. Then note how much of our escalating national debt is going to underwriting the sputtering Afghan war — made all the more bleak with the release of some 92,000 secret documents by WikiLeaks.org — and imagine what that money could accomplish at home where our economy is in extremis. And ask why this country should partner abroad with a highly questionable character in a battlefield that historically has spurned would-be conquerors? How did we get there? Newly elected presidents, especially Democrats, fear being portrayed as weak, and thus get rolled by the military into fighting unnecessary wars. John Kennedy learned the lesson fast, after our fiasco in Cuba. Lyndon Johnson lost his presidency over his capitulation to military advisers. LBJ knew we couldn't "win" in Vietnam, but he was afraid to end the war and be seen as a president who gave up. In worrying about losing his second term, he lost it. Obama has allowed himself to be talked into making the protracted Afghan war his, not former congressman Charlie Wilson's. In doing so, he has repeated LBJ's critical mistake. Obama has kept his word about getting us out of Iraq, albeit slower than some might have wished, and intimated that his plans to get out of Afghanistan next year is on track. But there is no way we will accomplish any fundamental changes in that country in this timetable, or longer, and as young John Kerry said about Vietnam, who wants to be the last dead U.S. soldier in that illusory cause? The case to pull out Last year, the perceptive critic Garry Wills urged Obama to be a one-term president rather than prolonging an unwinnable war. "If it costs him the presidency, what other achievement can match it?" Wills asked rhetorically. "I would rather see him a one-term president than have him pass on another unwinnable war to the person who will follow him in office." Woodrow Wilson once said: "If my re-election as president depends upon my getting into war, I don't want to be president." He soon was dragged into World War I, despite his fearing a useless slaughter to control the actions of others, according to his recent biographer, John Milton Cooper Jr. I would turn around Wills' premise by suggesting that the best way for Obama to ensure his second term is to stand up to the military, push Congress and use the news media to make the case for coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. The best route to a second term is shifting priorities by getting out of these costly wars and focusing on creating jobs and balancing the budget. As the number of troops and deaths rise, along with the national debate, Obama's approval numbers have dropped. Paradoxically, if the president does the politically difficult, right thing, regardless of whether it seems to hurt his re-election chances, he might have a better chance to be re-elected. And, to complete the circle, if he is not re-elected, he will have done the right thing. LBJ didn't have that solace. Ironically, in turning over the war in Afghanistan to Gen. David Petraeus, President Obama may have anointed the one man who could beat him in the 2012 election. From George Washington to Ulysses Grant to Dwight Eisenhower, this country respects powerful generals and turns to them politically in times of national stress. If the Afghanistan war proves successful (by what standard, one might ask), Gen. Petraeus comes home a hero; if it fails, he can complain that the commander in chief didn't let him do what he needed to do to win. We always need to stay longer and up the ante in these situations, according to military experts. Our financial bankruptcy after years of this Afghan indulgence will set the scene for an impatient and fractious country to look for new leadership. Take the moral path The country elected this smart and challenging man to take bold steps when they are correct, even if they are politically challenging. To change the political rules. The paradox in the present conundrum is that the most moral position, even if it is unpopular and politically risky, is the position that this country needs, and thus is the one that could be the most politically wise. One term or two, the president needs to get us out of unnecessary wars. If he demonstrates the power to do so, other good things will follow, including a second term. Ronald Goldfarb is a Washington, D.C., attorney and author who served in the Kennedy Justice Department. He supported Barack Obama in 2008. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more