President Obama is to be commended for moving ahead to try and turn the fighting around in Afghanistan. The New York Times reports that in addition to a troop escalation, benchmarks will be set in order to gauge progress in the fight. As the Times notes, “In imposing conditions on the Afghans and Pakistanis, Mr. Obama is replicating a strategy used in Iraq two years ago both to justify a deeper American commitment and prod governments in the region to take more responsibility for quelling the insurgency and building lasting political institutions.”

The fact that Obama is instituting Iraq-honed practices in Afghanistan refutes the assertion that the Iraq War was a fatal distraction from the war in Afghanistan. Vindicated, on the other hand, is Christopher Hitchens, who has repeatedly made the case that the Iraq War would provide invaluable instruction in fighting jihadists going forward.

Let’s hope the president readily applies to Afghanistan the many other lessons of Iraq: the one about defying “experts” and changing strategy when things go wrong; the one about maintaining a close working relationship with the leaders of the other country; the one about hubris; and the one about staying the course in the face of popular hysteria.

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