Why Afghanistan?

I know, I know.  This is Obama's and the Democrats' "good war," the one we should have fought all along, instead of "Bush's War' in Iraq. 

But Bush's war in Iraq had a clearly stated purpose and rationale, and it's result is an Iraq too busy trying to establish a stable democracy to take part in regional conflicts. (Imagine the Middle East today, with Iraq right there in the middle and still run by Saddam and his psychopath sons.) Obama rejects the idea of nation-building, a perfectly defensible policy choice -- but in that case, what is the point and purpose of his war in Afghanistan? Where's the Great Orator's nationally televised speech about that?  Where is the questioning media demanding clear answers?  (I'm just kidding about that last part, obviously.)

Mark Steyn gets it right:

"Six weeks after the last NATO soldier leaves Afghanistan, it will be as if we were never there...We came, we saw, we left no trace. America's longest war will leave nothing behind."

"The combined Western military/aid presence accounts for 98 percent of that benighted land's GDP. We carpet-bomb with dollar bills; we have the most advanced technology known to man; we have everything except strategic purpose."