Out of Afghanistan

The withdrawal, retreat if you like, starts now. Brown on Sunday and Milliband yesterday came up with a form of words which they presumably hope will persuade us that they intend to get out of Afghanistan. All done in an atmosphere of electoral panic. The next step is to sit back and hope that the Americans will find some face-saving formula for withdrawal.
I was in favour of going after Bin Laden. I was not in favour of staying in Afghanistan to establish democracy - whatever that means. The moment to have pulled out was after setting up Karzai's government. But we didn't. We forgot about our original objective, got sidetracked by Iraq, then came back to Afghanistan with a view to somehow "winning".
Most people now seem to know the answer to that question. We can't win if we don't know what we are fighting for. Vague, warm and cuddly, politically correct objectives are not  much use when you invade a country and try to impose a government on its citizens. Invasions only work when you intend to rule permanently.
"One, two, three, four
What are we fighting for?"
Back, reluctantly, to the dismal Brown. He has spent several years trying not to take ownership of the Afghan situation, much as he did with Iraq, hoping, presumably, that it would just go away. Unfortunately for him, being Prime Minister requires that you take a leadership position. There are two choices here, both requiring courage:
1. Bow to popular opinion and pull out. Distance ourselves from American foreign policy and throw out lot in with Europe.
2. Stand one's ground. We are where we are. See the job through to the end.
What we get instead is a non-decision which will end badly. Peace without honour.