DOUG ROSS: Where's the exit sign in Afghanistan?

As President Barack Obama prepares his State of the Union address, to be delivered tonight, and as Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels prepares his Republican rebuttal -- a clear sign we are a nation divided, not united -- there's one topic they must not forget: Afghanistan.

Those of us who have been around long enough remember what happened when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. They stayed for about 20 years and gave up, throwing the land into a different kind of turmoil.

So what happens when the United States finally leaves Afghanistan?

Already, we have been there for more than a decade. It's a long war that has proven costly for Northwest Indiana and for the nation. Not nearly as many lives as in Vietnam, Korea or World War II, of course, but still there has been too much young blood spilled in the name of ... well, what exactly?

The four members of the Valparaiso-based 713th Engineering Company killed Jan. 6 by a roadside bomb explosion in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan were serving long after the May 2 death of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda mastermind. Wasn't it the U.S. mission to capture and/or kill bin Laden? What's the point of being in Afghanistan now?

I take this personally, because my family and I stood in the Indiana National Guard armory in Valparaiso last month, helping behind the scenes when parents came to pick up gifts during the Toys for Tots campaign. It gave me time to reflect on the sacrifices those soldiers were making on behalf of their nation -- and of Afghanistan's people.

I searched the White House website Sunday in search of a clear sign of the U.S. exit strategy and was dissatisfied at the end of that search.

France was talking several days ago about withdrawing from Afghanistan early after the deaths of four French soldiers. The Valparaiso contingent alone lost that many soldiers on Jan. 6.

I get that the United States is in a transition period, trying to build Afghanistan's ability to remain stable once U.S. military and other operations there end.

I get that Pakistan, right next door, is a major source of trouble. That's where bin Laden was hiding -- and apparently had been for years -- when the U.S. Navy Seals team sneaked in to attempt to capture bin Laden. Pakistan also has nuclear capabilities and scientists who have leaked information about developing those weapons.

As Obama and Daniels talk tonight about the state of the Union, I want to know about the state of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. How is that transition of power coming? What will happen when the U.S. troops leave Afghanistan? And how much more American blood will be spilled before our troops return home?

We don't want post-U.S. Afghanistan to be like the post-Soviet Afghanistan. Nor do we want Pakistan to devolve into a terrorist state. Just tell us what to expect and how much it will cost.

Editorial Page Editor Doug Ross can be reached at (219) 548-4360 or (219) 933-3357 or doug.ross@nwi.com. The opinion expressed in this column is the writer's and not necessarily that of The Times.