The ice has melted in my cup of Kool-Aid.

This isn’t an antiwar screed, a cry to get out of Afghanistan or a denunciation of Afghan security forces. At issue are decision-making in the White House and how this administration handles acute military threats. Does it understand the implications of its decisions?

“After 18 months our troops will begin to come home.” On what was that based? Were the administration’s conclusions that the Taliban’s momentum would be reversed and Afghanistan’s forces would be brought up to speed within 18 months based on hard-nosed analysis or wishful thinking? That nagging question also arises with the White House’s handling of Syria and Iraq and Russian President Vladi­mir Putin’s aggression in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

President Obama isn’t lacking in supporters of his policies. But the Afghanistan zigzags and his decision-making by increments in the foreign arena raise the question: Can the American people have confidence in this administration’s calls on national security?