Sen. Lindsay Graham again called for permanent U.S. military bases in Afghanistan Sunday on "Meet the Press." He had first publicly called for such bases in early December at the same time he suggested that a deal be made with Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki to keep a U.S. military presence in Iraq beyond the December 2011 withdrawal deadline contained in an status of forces agreement between the U.S. and Iraq.
Lindsay Graham: I want an enduring relationship with Afghanistan past 2014, politically, economically and militarily so that country never goes back into the hands of the Taliban or al Qaida. The two words that will be talked about in 2011 with Afghanistan are corruption and Pakistan. I am hopeful the Pakistani army will be more bold in attacking safe havens across the border that lie in Pakistan. I hope the Karzai government will better address corruption. I hope we can find an enduring relationship with Afghanistan that will make sure that country never goes back in the hands of terrorists. And the idea of putting permanent military bases on the table in 2011 I think would secure our national interest and tell the bad guys and the good guys we're not leaving, we're staying in a responsible way if the Afghan people want us to stay.
David Gregory: But that's important. Do you believe a permanent military presence is required to head off a potential failed state in the future?
Graham: I think it would be enormously beneficial to the region as well as Afghanistan. We've had air bases all over the world. A couple of air bases in Afghanistan would allow the Afghan security forces an edge against the Taliban in perpetuity. It would be a signal to Pakistan that the Taliban are never going to come back in Afghanistan. They could change their behavior. It would be a signal to the whole region that Afghanistan is going to be a different place.
And if the Afghan people want this relationship, they are going to have to earn it. But I hope that they will seek a relationship with the United States so we can have an enduring relationship, economic and militarily and politically, and a couple of air bases in Afghanistan will give us an edge militarily, give the Afghan security forces an edge militarily to ensure that the country never goes back into the hands of the Taliban, which would be a stabilizing event throughout the whole region. That has to be earned by the Afghan people and it has to be requested by the Afghan people.
Graham, of course, sees the situation improving and the war as winnable. As Lawrence Lewis wrote here Sunday, a lot of people dispute that assessment.
Do the Afghan people want the U.S. to remain, as Graham claims would be required? Not according to a poll published early in December. Fifty-five percent of Afghans want the U.S. out sooner rather than later. And what aboutt the American people? They have something in common with the Afghans: The majority opposes the war, according to the most recent poll by CNN/Opinion Research. But if a few more permanent bases were added to the U.S. collection of several hundred it already operates overseas, would that American disaffection with the Afghan war generate the kind of objections that would press the Obama administration or its successor to withdraw fully? Or would we just lean back and say nothing can be done about it?