Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the State Department’s man in Kabul, is clearly concerned about a premature drawdown of American and Western forces from Afghanistan.

“If we decide we’re tired, they’ll be back,” Crocker, referring to al Qaeda, told the Daily Telegraph (UK) in an interview last week. “Al Qaeda is still present in Afghanistan. If the West decides that 10 years in Afghanistan is too long then they will be back, and the next time it will not be New York or Washington, it will be another big Western city.”