“The shortage of soldiers has hampered the generals’ ability to hold territory,” you say wearily in your main leader about the war in Afghanistan, “and forced them to use air power to make up for the lack of numbers” (“Losing Afghanistan?” August 22, 2009). Poor generals! Their sorry lot reminds me of Vietnam, though. Back then, it was communism. Now, it is Islam, albeit of al-Qaeda variety, including all sorts of “alarming ideas” and “repellent social attitudes.” God forbid! But both wars hold a simple lesson: meddling in other peoples’ lives is an expensive affair, and especially when it comes to soldiers. They are always in short supply. The best America and its allies can do at this point is to pull out of Afghanistan before they are routed once again for the lack of numbers. That excuse will be as lame this time around as it was decades ago. And air power is forever for the birds, as the generals should have learned a long time ago—say, World War I.