Afghanistan was the "good" war. Afghanistan was the one war worth fighting. Barack Obama said these things way back in 2009. Boy, those were the days weren't they? He was a hawk back then. You almost believed he was going to take the bull by the horns and clean house. Our fighting men and women would come home with honor as victors and liberators. Unfortunately, his actions have not matched his high flying rhetoric. Why is that? I have mentioned in previous articles that I believe the president to be Muslim-Centric, that is, he has an affinity for the Muslim culture. I believe that while he may actually see the necessity of the war, he has no stomach for fighting it and sees our presence in Afghanistan as colonialism. It's not so much that he wants us to lose as he just doesn't seem to want us to win either.
The first disturbing event was when General Stanley McChrystal wanted 50,000 additional troops and was convinced to lower his request to 40,000. Even at that, the president only granted him 30,000 additional troops and spent far too long considering it before he took any action. Then there was the dust up between Obama and the general that resulted in McChrystal's forced resignation. Now a new book by Bob Woodward may be blowing the lid off the inner workings and machinations of the White House war room. The New York Times quotes Woodward's new book as saying the following: "Some of the critical players in President Obama's national security team doubt his strategy in Afghanistan will succeed and have spent much of the last 20 months quarreling with one another over policy, personalities and turf." The Washington Post wrote that Obama "urgently looked for a way out of the war in Afghanistan last year, repeatedly pressing his top military advisers for an exit plan that they never gave him, according to secret meeting notes and documents cited in a new book by journalist Bob Woodward."
According to Woodward, the president grew frustrated that his advisers kept offering strategies that required more troops and eventually wrote his own strategy in the form of a six page 'terms sheet' that would attempt to limit the countries involvement in the war. In other words, the advisers were putting forth strategies to win the war and the president wanted strategies to get out of the war. Further, in an epic case of politics before country, Obama is quoted as saying he needed an exit strategy because "I can't lose the whole Democratic Party." This is stunning if true.
As the war drags on it is increasingly looking like it has been fought with half measures and a less than enthusiastic attitude on the part of this president. This is not fair to our fighting men and women who so bravely risk, and give, their lives for this country. They deserve nothing less than our full commitment and that starts from the top down.
The first disturbing event was when General Stanley McChrystal wanted 50,000 additional troops and was convinced to lower his request to 40,000. Even at that, the president only granted him 30,000 additional troops and spent far too long considering it before he took any action. Then there was the dust up between Obama and the general that resulted in McChrystal's forced resignation. Now a new book by Bob Woodward may be blowing the lid off the inner workings and machinations of the White House war room. The New York Times quotes Woodward's new book as saying the following: "Some of the critical players in President Obama's national security team doubt his strategy in Afghanistan will succeed and have spent much of the last 20 months quarreling with one another over policy, personalities and turf." The Washington Post wrote that Obama "urgently looked for a way out of the war in Afghanistan last year, repeatedly pressing his top military advisers for an exit plan that they never gave him, according to secret meeting notes and documents cited in a new book by journalist Bob Woodward."
According to Woodward, the president grew frustrated that his advisers kept offering strategies that required more troops and eventually wrote his own strategy in the form of a six page 'terms sheet' that would attempt to limit the countries involvement in the war. In other words, the advisers were putting forth strategies to win the war and the president wanted strategies to get out of the war. Further, in an epic case of politics before country, Obama is quoted as saying he needed an exit strategy because "I can't lose the whole Democratic Party." This is stunning if true.
As the war drags on it is increasingly looking like it has been fought with half measures and a less than enthusiastic attitude on the part of this president. This is not fair to our fighting men and women who so bravely risk, and give, their lives for this country. They deserve nothing less than our full commitment and that starts from the top down.
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