US President must secure victory at all costs

US President Barack Obama is in dire need of success in Afghanistan, writes the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "Because with the troop surge ... Obama has tied the success of his presidency to the course of events in Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan. The war he called necessary during his election campaign has now become 'his' war. It will be one of the two or three big isses that will dominate American politics in the years to come. ... There is no guarantee that the president's strategy will pay off. But at least the Americans have now heard from him why they shouldn't consider Afghanistan a lost cause after eight years of fighting. ... Inevitably the troop surge he's now ordered will have consequences, partly for the worse. But a hasty withdrawal - and possibly even continuing as previously - would have been fatal."

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