THE ENEMY - AT 8:27 A.M. ET:  If you were the enemy in Afghanistan, what would you be thinking this morning?  Certainly, you'd be concerned about the 30,000 new American troops heading into your neighborhood, for they are capable, and led by enlightened commanders like Petraeus and McChrystal.

But you'd also know that time is on your side.  After all, your opponent's president has just given you the gift of a timetable for withdrawal, so you know his heart isn't in the battle.  You know, as Andrew Malcolm noted below, that your opponent's president never mentioned the word "victory," apparently banned as beneath the College Board level of the new administration.  You know that the president's own party is against him.

You know that the North Vietnamese waited out the Americans and watched the "anti-war" red left destroy their war effort.

You know that the president's party will probably suffer losses in the 2010 midterms, but that those defeated are likely to be moderate Democrats in swing districts, not the leftists who are now the core of the party.

You know that the American economy is weak, and that your opponent's president is spending his country into bankruptcy.

You know that your opponent's educational institutions are filled with people who believe 9-11 was America's fault, and teach that to children.

You know that your opponent's president is about to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and that it will go to his head.

And, although fearful of what the Americans can pour on you in the next 18 months, you take out a calendar and start marking off those months.

And you smile.  Very broadly.

December 2, 2009