Perils of the Ivory Tower

Classically overreacting to the recent Kabul bombing, Peter Beinart wants Obama to come clean and level with America: "There’s an honest way to advocate for withdrawal from Afghanistan and a dishonest way. The dishonest way is to suggest that we’ll leave behind a government that can secure the country and a political process than can end the war. The honest way is to acknowledge that the Afghanistan we leave behind will be a chaotic, ugly place where the Taliban rules large swaths of the country, and much of what we have built may be washed away." So, lemme get this straight. Obama should declare total failure, ignore the tsunami of domestic and international blowback it would cause, but take comfort in the points he'll win for honesty from armchair strategists like Beinart. Right. Now might be a good time for Mr. Beinart leave his Ivory Tower for awhile and take a smoke break.