Enemy Borderlands

It seems as if Abdullah Abdullah may be a smarter politician than Mr. Obama when it comes to rigging outcomes in Afghanistan. It's a perfectly reasonable position to not want to participate in a rigged election: Why give those who rigged it an undeserved legitimacy? Yet Mr. Abdullah's unwillingness to play his assigned role seems to have confounded the Obama administration (note particularly Secretary Clinton's imbecilic response). Above all else, the administration needs the appearance of a credible Afghan government in order to justify the American presence, not to speak of escalation. Perhaps Mr. Abdullah believes — we can only speculate — that at this moment the most effective means at his disposal to encourage an American departure is a political boycott. If he does believe something like that, he would be right. Two roads diverge: one leads to de-escalation and withdrawal, the other promises a long, bitter slog ending with humiliating defeat. Time has almost run out but Mr. Obama can still choose one or the other. Never both. And he must make up his mind.