As the Obama administration wrestles with how to deal with the worsening military and political situation in Afghanistan and the worsening level of public support for the war at home, new details are emerging about how the president is thinking about his decision on whether to send more U.S. troops to the region.
According to Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-CA, the new top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, Obama told Central Command head Gen. David Petraeus and Afghanistan commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal to “scrub” their assessments because he “wasn’t inclined to send troops over there.”
If McKeon’s claim is true, Obama’s instructions, relayed to McKeon through Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, show how resistant the president is to doubling down on the war in Afghanistan and how Republicans are prepared to take their push for an increased commitment of resources to the public.
Indeed, we should – along with the economy, if Obama punts on Afghanistan, we should make that a central issue of the 2010 campaign. The troops deserve a clear-cut plan for Afghanistan – a militarily sound plan which has a chance at success…what they may get from Obama is a cowardly compromise like Johnson’s in Vietnam: enough to prevent an outright loss, not enough to secure outright victory. The troops will fight, and some of them will die; a lot of the enemy will die, too; of course, a lot of people will be caught in the cross fire – many of them deliberately placed there by the enemy. The death toll will mount, and no goal will be in sight. It will end up the worst of both worlds – but Obama might merely be hoping that by punting, he can put off any real decision until after election day, 2012.
We must insist the President fight for victory – we will sustain him, if his own party does not. Defeat in Afghanistan will be unbearable; battle which is neither victory nor defeat would be a dereliction of duty…victory is the only rational outcome.
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