Moran: 'He needs to get out of this war before he owns this war'

President Barack Obama "needs to get out of this war before he owns this war," one Democratic lawmaker said of the country's current mission in Afghanistan.

The White House's committment to continuing its military operations there is merely "hardening opposition to the U.S.," depleting much needed military and financial resources and lending legitimacy to a government that otherwise lacks it, Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) told MSNBC last night.

Consequently, sending the 40,000 additional troops to Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChrystal first requested in September would be a grave mistake, the congressman added. Rather, the United States should focus more on withdrawing military personnel from "safe cities" with sound leadership, and the White House should devote its primary attention to Pakistan, he said.

"Our staying there is actually strengthening our opposition, because we're occupying a foreign country," he told host Chris Matthews. "And, in fact, if we followed McChrystal's advice, we would be up to 100,000 troops. That's how many Russia had. Russia killed a million Afghans and they still lost the war and lost their empire."

"[W]e can't win a war that is based upon generating support for a government that is not deserving of the loyalty of its people," Moran added.

Moran's comments on Thursday illustrate the political difficulties Obama is sure to face once he makes and annnounces his decision about whether to send more troops to Afghanistan.

Committing another 40,000 -- or more -- men and women to the war effort there would likely satisfy Republicans, who have accused the president of dithering and, in the process, putting under-matched troops in Afghanistan at risk.

But a troop boost is likely to alienate many congressional Democrats, who fear the war in Afghanistan could continue for an indeterminable number of years before any kind of drawdown begins.

Moran is among that group of skeptics, and he cautioned the president on Thursday not to commit more troops to the war-torn state without first envisioning some kind of finish line.

We could have won in 2002, but the Bush administration was distracted by Iraq," Moran said. "And now the Taliban are much stronger. It's not the country it was in 2002."