What should President Obama be doing in Afghanistan?

President Obama consistently states that the United States will not tolerate other governments or nonstate entities that violate human rights or invade, attack and occupy other countries, and yet he justifies similar U.S. behavior by saying we must take these actions to protect ourselves. Obama could level with the public and explain that expenditures on the so-called “war on terror” have primarily secured corporate interests in the defense industry, rather than bamboozle the public into thinking that the United States is in Afghanistan to eradicate and dismantle the al-Qaeda network. He should admit that the United States wants to protect the oil pipeline to Asia and thereby have greater influence over the flow of energy resources available to China.