John McCain Is Back, and We Welcome Him

MITHRIDATES
For anyone who cares about Afghanistan (remember that other War?), John McCain's speech to the American Enterprise Institute is worth a read. Whether you're a lefty or righty, it's hard not to listen to this guy and not believe we would have been better off with him at the helm the past eight years — we'll agree to disagree on the next four. Some things might not have been different enough for some, but it's hard to think they would been worse.
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This is what we need. Leaders willing to give the occasional sober assessment of the situation and to make the right changes until they get it right.

The problem in Afghanistan today is not innate xenophobia or hostility to the West. It is our own failed policies that are the problem. We have tried to win this war without enough troops, without sufficient economic aid, without effective coordination, and without a clear strategy. The ruinous consequences should come as no surprise.

Let's get this out there before objections are shouted out. Yes, one big reason there weren't enough troops in (or focus on) Afghanistan was because of the other War the man championed. Can we move on?

But unlike others who tout numbers of enemy killed as a measure of success, he openly admits this doesn't count for much.

Although we succeeded in killing numerous terrorist leaders through this approach — including the head of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the insurgency continued to grow in strength and violence. It was not until we changed course and applied a new approach — a counterinsurgency strategy focused on providing basic security for the population — that the cycle of violence was broken and al Qaeda was seriously damaged.

So ignore the repeated mention of the surge (election's over, John). We've got a President willing to refocus on Afghanistan and commit more troops; a chance to get our allies to finally contribute more now that Bush and his ham-handed diplomacy are gone (think Obama can actually get them to pony up?); and a thoughtful opposition leader more or less on the same page.

Hope? Bipartisanship? Maybe? The good will and support won't last forever.

None of this will be easy. While today Afghanistan is seen by many as "the good war" and the one into which the dispatch of thousands of additional American troops can go mostly uncontested, this day may soon pass. It is possible — indeed likely — that sometime in the near future, perhaps a year from now, as the fighting in Afghanistan increases, the costs grow more dear, and casualties become more numerous and more visible, that the will to finish this mission will dramatically erode.

Let's get it right while we've got the chance. Let's hope Obama keeps this guy in the loop.

Migracorridos

MITHRIDATES
Finally some creative thinking about illegal immigration. Take "migra", the derogatory term used by illegal immigrants for the US Border Patrol, and "corrido", traditional Mexican ballads, and what do you get:

Migracorridos, a five-song CD distributed by the USBP to Mexican radio stations containing such hits as "El Enemigo Mas Grande", a ballad about a Mexican watching his cousin die in the desert. The CD also includes "La Carta" (The Letter), "La Tumba" (The Tomb), and "El Funeral" (you're on your own with this one).
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The good news is it actually represents some creative thinking by our border control. Mexican drug traffickers are known to sing narcocorridos to brag about their exploits and the USBP now has a competing offer. And they're apparently quite popular. Read the rest of the Daily News article (hooray, they produced something worth reading! Oh wait, that's just an AP reprint) for more about the Border Crossing Initiative. The BCI claims success, as deaths are down from a peak of 492 in 2005 to 390 in 2008, but it's unclear how much of this is from fewer border crossing attempts due to fewer opportunities en el norte during the recession.

The sad news is that an effort like this is only noteworthy in the absence of any reasonable immigration policy. Eight years ago a governor from a border state ran for President with a sensible position based on years of first-hand experience with immigration. Too bad he never got the chance to make it happen. From 2005 and 2007, John McCain*, Ted Kennedy, and others led an effort for a comprehensive immigration reform that sought to address the major issues in a reasonable way by largely ignoring the rantings from the right and left extremes. The resulting rants of these extremes against the bill suggest it had some merit.

It was not perfect. It was not how I would have drawn it up. But considering the usual crap that comes out of Congress it wasn't that bad. It had the support of the last President. Would it have the support of this one? I think so. Can it get through the new Congress? It came close last time and seems worth a try now. But will ecomonic troubles and a temporary decline in illegal immigration remove it from the agenda entirely?

This seems like something the current Congress and President could get done in a reasonable way. So what gives? We'll tackle this issues in depth at a later date, but for now, can't we at least get it back on the table?

* note: when this author refers to "John McCain", he is not referring to the alien-demon-possessed 2008 presidential candidate who ran under the same name and said he would actually vote against the immigration bill the real John McCain sponsored back in 2006.