Tuesday, December 01, 2009

The Dear Leader Kind Of Gets It Right In Afghanistan

The Dear Leader, President Obama, did the best that we could hope for and is sending an additional 30,000 troops to the Afghanistan theatre in the War Against Islamofacsist Terror.
That is the good news.
The bad news, and there is a lot that was in the speech tonight to cadets at West Point, is that these troops do not know if they are going into a war zone to win or to contain and then leave.
The Dear Leader, President Obama, of course had to deflect any criticism of his dithering and cutting the difference regarding Afghanistan by attacking former President George W. Bush. No, the Dear Leader, President Obama did not attack Mr. George W. Bush by name. More with digs such as this:

Then, in early 2003, the decision was made to wage a second war in Iraq. The wrenching debate over the Iraq War is well-known and need not be repeated here.

But, the Dear Leader, President Obama, did mention it and did not stop at that point. He continued:

It is enough to say that for the next six years, the Iraq War drew the dominant share of our troops, our resources, our diplomacy, and our national attention - and that the decision to go into Iraq caused substantial rifts between America and much of the world.

OK Mr. Dear Leader, President Obama, we get it. You did not support the Iraq theatre in the War Against Islamofacsist Terror. We know, you, Sen. John "Lurch" Kerry and the Democrat gang think it was wrong and that we should have poured everything into Afghanistan. You feel you are mopping up your predecessor's mess. As every president has when succeeding another.
Now, later in the speech is this curious line:

Over the last several years, the Taliban has maintained common cause with al Qaeda, as they both seek an overthrow of the Afghan government.

Mr. Dear Leader, President Obama, that is precisely the reason we went to war in Afghanistan in the first place. Because the brutal Taliban dictatorship was harboring al-Queda operatives and the big man himself, Osama bin-Laden. And, al-Queda was very involved in the highest levels of the Taliban dictatorship. It was a marriage made in radical Islamic heaven. So, it has not been just the last several years. It went on before George W. Bush became president.
Now, I support the Dear Leader, President Obama, sending the 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. But, I do not feel that it is to achieve victory. It is to, at best, contain a situation that the Dear Leader, President Obama says himself is perilous.
Most telling, the Dear Leader fell back on an unrealistic time line of 18 months for there to be progress as he and the commanders on the ground see it. And the Dear Leader, President Obama, did provide some benchmarks for that 18 month timetable to be met. The short outline is this:

These are the three core elements of our strategy: a military effort to create the conditions for a transition; a civilian surge that reinforces positive action; and an effective partnership with Pakistan.

But, can this be done in an 18 month period? Realistically, probably not. After all, this is not some video game war. It is the real deal. And in real wars, the unexpected is what happens, not the game plan.
And the one word I want so desperately hear from my president, the Dear Leader, President Obama is V I C T O R Y. That we in in it to win it. Period. No excuses.
What we got was a cut the difference, set up for failure and the possibility that those being sent to the Afghanistan war theatre are being sent to a failure.
But we have to understand why the Dear Leader, President Obama, is doing what he is doing.
First, he spent a whole Death March of a presidential campaign railing about the Iraq theatre and how wrong it was and Afghanistan was right. The Dear Leader, President Obama, could not look totally weak. He knows that he has to put some effort to the fight against al-Queda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Second, the Dear Leader, President Obama, is setting himself up to bug out before the end of his first, and God willing only, term. Win or lose. No matter what, the draw down begins in 18 months. This is to please the far left of the Democrat party. They want us out yesterday. And in the speech, the Dear Leader talks about the economy and paying for the the war effort. So, this is a bone to the Democrat lefties.
Third, the Dear Leader, President Obama, is still hoping that the so-called allies will put in the troop difference and some how pull their weight in the Afghan effort. The Dear Leader, President Obama, cited the fact that NATO invoked Article Five. That the terror attacks of 9/11 was an attack on all. And that NATO had to act as one, especially in Afghanistan. News Flash, Dear Leader. If you want to leave Afghanistan in 18 months, the NATO allies wanted to leave 18 months ago. And as far as combat, do not expect much from the NATO allies.
What I hope the coming days and months does is change the Dear Leader's mind into achieving victory in Afghanistan. Not containment. Victory. The speech tonight kind of sort of got something right. But, here is hoping that the Dear Leader grows into being a commander-in-chief that wants a win. That is what we all hope for.

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