During the Presidential campaign, candidate Barack Obama promised that Afghanistan would be a top priority of his administration. He promised that he would send more troops, more supplies, more satellites, and more predator drones to the Afghan-Pakistan border and rededicate American efforts to the war in Afghanistan. He attacked President Bush and Senator John McCain for placing too much emphasis on Iraq when the focus needed to be on Afghanistan.
In March of this year, President Obama announced his “comprehensive new strategy” for Afghanistan and the Pakistan border following a “careful policy review” that he ordered “as soon as [he] took office”. Obama was flanked by his national security team during the announcement. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was there. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was there. General David Petraeus was there. And scores of other advisers and ambassadors were either on stage or in attendance. This was a major announcement.
Yet on September 16th, less than six months later, President Obama stated that we needed to develop a strategy for Afghanistan, and he wouldn’t consider sending any additional troops until that strategy was right. So what was that major announcement in March?
One has to wonder, are the pressures of the job and the responsibilities to our troops a bit too much for this untested President who has never led anything in his life? Are the political desires of George Soros and the MoveOn.org left getting in his way? Or has this President stuck to the blame game so long that he can’t figure out how to look anywhere but the past?
One thing is clear. In March, President Obama said we had a new strategy for Afghanistan. Now he is saying we don’t have a strategy so no new request for troops can be approved.
General McChrystal was appointed by President Barack Obama to lead the efforts in Afghanistan. General McChrystal clearly wants more troops and says we cannot win without them. Was the “strategy” announcement nothing but politics in March? Is the lack of strategy nothing but politics now? Candidate Obama promised to listen to the generals on the ground when devising military strategy. Why is President Obama refusing to listen to HIS general now?
President Obama was right, the September 11th attacks were masterminded on Afghanistan soil and it is imperative that we win there to prevent such future attacks here. Our troops need his support to win, and we need those troops in order to remain safe. Its time President Obama stop looking backward and stop playing politics with our service personnel. This is Obama’s war now. He owes it to all those who have served and all those serving today to make it a victorious one.
Obama may be unclear about his Afghanistan strategy, but General McChrystal appears more certain. His strategy is victory, and he has a plan to achieve it. He needs the troops to implement that plan. If the President prefers playing politics instead of supporting our security and our military, McChrystal might resign. And I think he should. American safety can not be sacrificed to placate the political left. Barack Obama needs to decide if he is ready to give up the campaign and start acting like Commander-in-Chief.
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