Which, coming from the man usually regarded by both sides as the person most responsible for saving Iraq, carries quite a bit of weight. Considering that McChrystal, Petraeus, and Fred Kagan — the intellectual architect of the surge — all agree that more troops are needed, I’d have to say that more troops are needed.

Incidentally, Joe Biden reportedly opposes actually pursuing victory in Afghanistan and appears ready to allow terrorists to regain a footing there, only killing terrorists in Pakistan. You’ll recall that Biden opposed the surge in Iraq and the 1991 Gulf War, too. Real military genius he is.

Among the alternatives being presented to Mr. Obama is Mr. Biden’s suggestion to revamp the strategy altogether. Instead of increasing troops, officials said, Mr. Biden proposed scaling back the overall American military presence. Rather than trying to protect the Afghan population from the Taliban, American forces would concentrate on strikes against Qaeda cells, primarily in Pakistan, using special forces, Predator missile attacks and other surgical tactics.

The Americans would accelerate training of Afghan forces and provide support as they took the lead against the Taliban. But the emphasis would shift to Pakistan. Mr. Biden has often said that the United States spends something like $30 in Afghanistan for every $1 in Pakistan, even though in his view the main threat to American national security interests is in Pakistan…

Mrs. Clinton, who opposed Mr. Biden in March, appeared to refer to this debate in an interview on Monday night on PBS. “Some people say, ‘Well, Al Qaeda’s no longer in Afghanistan,’ ” she said. “If Afghanistan were taken over by the Taliban, I can’t tell you how fast Al Qaeda would be back in Afghanistan.”

As Allahpundit says, Biden is basically recommending a game of whack-a-mole. We’ve chased Al Qaeda from Afghanistan to Pakistan since 2001, so now we’re going to give up our territory in Afghanistan to go chase them from Pakistan back into Afghanistan. Then maybe in 2011 we can be shocked that they’ve gained a footing in Afghanistan and chase them back into Pakistan.

You have to actually hold your territory; you have to cover the hole the mole you just whacked down came out of. Otherwise you’re going to spend the next century chasing terrorists from Afghanistan into Pakistan and then from Pakistan back into Afghanistan. Biden’s strategy is moronic.