Obama faces the enemy at West Point: a day late and a dollar short
In Obama’s long-awaited “hello I must be going” speech on Afghanistan, delivered at West Point, there were no real surprises.
We knew he would take the opportunity to bash the previous administration, ignore the influence of the surge on Iraq, and praise himself. We knew he would call up approximately 30,000 more troops while simultaneously emphasizing how quickly they would be withdrawn—an un-clever attempt to please both sides while actually pleasing no one, simultaneously conveying to ally and enemy alike his utter lack of resolve.
Did I say “enemy?” Obama didn’t. I read every single word of his speech but didn’t find that one. Actually, the only person who used the word “enemy” in the context of the speech was Chris Matthews, although he was referring—shockingly enough—to the cadets of West Point, who obstinately refused to feel the requisite leg-tingling Obamalove.
And lest you think that “hello, I must be going” was not a fair description of the president’s message, let me offer the following un-edited passage from his address:
And as commander-in-chief, I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan.
After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home.
A great deal of Obama’s speech was dedicated to the idea that (a) this is a war in which our security is at stake; and (b) we need to save money for our domestic programs so we must fight it on the cheap. Now, I’m sure that financial considerations play a part in every war, but I cannot recall any previous Commander-in-Chief conveying this attitude so publicly and openly. All previous Commanders-in-Chief would have understood what a pernicious message it is, and how much weakness it conveys.
As Ace writes, “Obama to Troops: I Promise You I Will Furnish You With Every Resource You Need, So Long As What You Need Is Reasonably-Priced and Available as a Factory-Irregular from Marshall’s.” Not exactly “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty,” is it?
Obama’s emphasis on fiscal responsibility might be more convincing if his administration hadn’t been marked so far by a gargantuan spending spree, including a $787 stimulus bill that consisted mostly of pork for friends and supporters, and which failed to stimulate much of anything related to the economy. If the Afghan war is in our vital national interest and our national security is at stake, isn’t it odd that the heretofore spendthrift Obama shows such miserly reluctance to fund it?
[NOTE: For three excellent and more detailed commentaries on Obama’s speech, see this, this, and this.]
I’m completely pissed off. (Can I say that here?)
My step-son was in Saudi Arabia in the early 90s. My daughter and her future husband served in Bosnia. My now son-in-law has been to Iraq twice, and my step-son to Afghanistan three times.
Another son-in-law served in Saudi Arabia in the Army in the 90s, and afterwards spent years with those horrible private contractors in the Middle East. He married my daughter after his service.
I mention all this to say that I feel the generation just past mine has paid a premium for freedom which Obama has now degraded to a mere pittance. They paid this in hopes that their children would live in a safer, more free world… or at least one as free and as safe as they lived in.
Currently I have 4 grandchildren and another to arrive in April. And I have a daughter who has not yet started her family but is planning on having at least two children.
I feel Obama has just made sure that my grandchildren will still be fighting the same wars their parents fought. And, believe me… this is not why their parents went to war.
When Jon Stewart spoke to the 2004 graduating class of William & Mary, he apologize for the world being “broke” by his generation. He told this class that if they could fix it, they would be the next “greatest generation”.
This is the generation that Obama is sending to lose a war.
“This is the generation that Obama is sending to lose a war.”
You know, from time to time I can’t believe he’s sending anybody *anywhere* — I think, What a horrible absurdity that this man really is our President.
It’s incredible, really, when you think about it all. His inexperience. His lunatic, America-hating friends and associates — an outright parade them, singing the praises of leftist tyrants and murderers, damning America. The apologizing. The bowing. How little is known about his past. (And yes, that includes the birth certificate thing. I don’t bother focusing on it, because I don’t think anybody’s ever going to do anything about it, but there *is* smoke there. Our President is spending a fortune in court, fighting these people — you would think that constitutes news, no? Yet it’s this big secret, blacked out entirely.)
Madness.
I agree that Obama should not have specified a withdrawal timetable and that 30,000 troops was on the low side (though they plan to try to get NATO to throw in another 5,000 – 8,000 troops). However, the fact is that if things do not improve in Afghanistan the withdrawal timetable is going to go out the window and everyone ought to realize that. So there’s really not that much significance, except political, in that statement.
My liberal friends are mostly aghast that Obama is sending in more troops. They think this is some kind of betrayal, etc., etc. I suppose this ought to surprise me but it doesn’t really. Obama was absolutely clear throughout the campaign that Afghanistan was the war he felt we ought to be focused on, so withdrawing troops at this point would go against everything he stood for in the campaign. What’s more, he’s absolutely right, and Bush was wrong: Afghanistan was the war we should have been fighting and we needed to refocus our attention on that war.
Yet again, however, Obama proves himself to be essentially the pragmatist I always thought he was — he’s clearly bucking the Democratic party line and the sentiment among most liberals. All I can say to my liberal friends who oppose this move is — you’re not paying attention to what is happening in Afghanistan. You guys supported the original war and now you want to pull out? Is that because you think we “won” the war already? If you think that, it’s because you’re not paying attention. Bush failed to put time and attention to this war and things in Afghanistan have deteriorated badly since we “won” the war against the Taliban. The Taliban are resurgent. It is a dangerous situation there and pulling the troops out would be both foolhardy and absurd.
I suppose you guys who constantly rail against “liberals” do have a point, in that most liberals do seem to be in favor of what I would call a foolhardy strategy. Happily, however, Obama isn’t one of them, and that’s more or less precisely what I expected. Obama, however, may be turning out to be too smart for his liberal supporters to comprehend, however, and that may be a significant problem down the line.
I read the speech. Rotten and analytically unsound. Obama, like our friend Mitsu above, asserts that opportunities to stabilize the situation were wasted without naming the opportunities or explaining what should have been done. Specifying a timeline for withdrawal, while demanding achievement milestones from the central government and tut-tutting about fraud and corruption is probably the least effective combination imaginable. He is setting up the conditions for endless complaints about fraud and corruption and disputes about whether the milestones are actually being achieved.
The obsession with events in Kabul and State Department talk of mutual respect with Pakistan and “breaking the cycle of American-Muslim hostility”–note the U.S. in position of Israel here–is a tell that Obama still doesn’t understand why the surge in Iraq worked, and is not likely to replicate it in a fundamentally different situation.
If Obama could play the 3-D chess of his admirers’ imaginations, he would see that he is creating more hostages to fortune and reducing his own options. That may be a lot of things, but I wouldn’t call it “pragmatic.” The simplest explanation is not pragmatism with respect to promoting US national interests, but crass political positioning to avoid looking weak as long as possible. Sadly, he is already too far behind the perception and decision curves for that to work.
This luke warm decision announced last night at West Point on how we are going to proceed in Afghanistan is the most recent demonstration of the fact that liberals (i.e., the left) have no principals, only postures. They recently argued that the war in Afghanistan was the only real war, but only until the war in Afghanistan heated up and had to be fought. So, the left now postures that there is no need to fight the war at all. Since continuing the war would actually cost money, and that money might come from the left’s dream of nationalizing health care, we have to balance our priorities. What is important to note here is a complete absence of principal. Everything that does not further the “current” aims of the left must be discarded, as if it was never pursued. It smells of committed communism. This is so open and obvious that some of us dummies are actually seeing the liberals for what they are, power hungry and willing to sacrifice everyone everything for it, the Constitution be damned. And, Obama is the leader of this movement. He appeared weak and indecisive and then announced our policy so that our friends and enemies can take the measure of our commitment.
By the way, there is only one war. You know, us against the islamo-fascists. We fight it where it is taking place. We were fortunate to have them take us on in Iraq, so for 6 or 7 years it was primarily a one front war. And, we killed a lot of them. When a stable government took power in Iraq, the islamo-fascists had no option other than to move the war to more friendly climes: one of these is Afghanistan. No one took their eyes off the ball as the left now postures. If the MSM weren’t so stupid maybe more would begin to see the big picture.
Three years and one month, and counting.
We still do not know who our president is. We have learned (to our chagrin) that he does not stand for freedom (his reaction to the “coup” in Honduras screams that he is on the side of the statists). In fact he does not stand, he bows. To say that his foreign policy has not been successful to date is an understatement. The moderates in the democrat party are pointing their fingers at Rahm Emanuel as the person to blame for the fiasco in Obama’s far east trip of a few weeks ago, for which he deserves a dead fish, but I think they miss the big picture. Obama promised us a new and different foreign policy. Biden even asked that his supporters stay with the program as things were going to get tough on about 6 months. Obama is the guy to blame here. He is in charge. The Obami, as they are coming to be called, are hanging in there for the power. As a result, none of them will quit on principal. Remember, they don’t have any. And one doesn’t quit on postures. It would be fun to watch if it weren’t so damned serious.
From a purely retorical standpoint this has gotta hurt!
After all the build up about his weeks of careful deliberation the nation gets a hodgepodge campaign speech with a campaign style backdrop.
THis called for a telecast from the Oval Office serious and to the point. He needed to take command and showed that he is not really in charge of anything. Much is made of his need to placate the left but all that shows is how weak he is.
As Sarkozy reportedly said he is “weak, inexperienced and badly briefed “
Obama’s long-awaited “hello I must be going” speech on Afghanistan: one would be hard pressed to express the truth of the circumstances more succinctly, neo. 🙂
@ JR Dogman: you sound a lot like me!
Some Questions to Ponder: In prospect of the Obama presidency. (Wed. 01/07/09 08:04:58 AM)
I think Cris Matthews has hit the nail right on the head when he said that Obama was going to deliver his West Point speech on Afghanistan policy in “the enemy camp.”
Thus, in one succinct phrase he has neatly summed up and encompassed the Left and Obama & Co.’s view of our military; they–not Iran, not Islam, not Al-Qaeda, the Taliban or Bin Laden–are “the Enemy.”
I can never listen to this president, nor watch him talk/lecture us with his ever-present pomposity and ignorance. Each time, he appears on TV, I must leave the room.
I don’t know how others deal with their own ‘repulsion’. I remember how our good friend Fred Hunt couldn’t watch nor listen to the man either.
What’s all that jazz about convincing the so-called liberal base about anything? What is the sacrifice they have to endure in this war? Are they the one facing the barbarians? If anything they are being protected from further terrorist acts and much worse the slow and complete invasion of every modern and free society around the planet. Otherwise known as Islamo-fascism.
Money? The cost of a just war (i.e. any war against barbarians/nazis) is a case where debt could be erased in one quick stroke. Who sets those formulas anyway?
Money spent to enrich and empower the corrupt is causing unbalance and inflation, but certainly not when the money is dedicated to such a precious cause. Plus on a global scale, the amount become even more minimal.
There is only a lack of will and understanding. Or worse. Plus these politicians famous for their complete lack of idea and originality must always constantly invent problems, issues, obstacles that never existed, to justify their own presence/phoniness and greed. And now, the world has reached another dead-lock.
And so the time has arrived to get rid of the political class and reduce them to the minimum necessary. What the world needs today is a global American Revolution. Mainly one that was based on sound ideas and concepts, not bloodshed. The American Constitution has already been written. We just need to go back to its basic tenets and illustrate her maybe with an additional “Instruction for Use” (mode d’emploi), for the dimwits and corrupts who can’t read very well.
In other words, let’s fight corruption and all the crooks in position of power. It’s not for a lack of knowledge. We have identified most of the culprits. We just need to gather the intelligence, prepare a plan and then make it public. I have no doubt the idea will attract the majority of We The People around the globe once our voice is heard. And if we have the numbers and we’ll have them, then nothing should stop us, nor scare us. We will even start enjoying the peaceful revolution while it unfolds.
And while we are at it, let’s get rid of socialism and it’s corollary fascism too. Green, purple, or red. Let’s replace all with the color blue, the true color of Freedom and Justice.
I’m confident Our Day is near. For one thing, the work is practically done. Practically because…
each day that passes brings one more of their numerous mischiefs into light. Times are delicious. Despite the appearances. Who needs asses such as Chris Matthews or Keith Olbermann anyway? Seems obvious but apparently not. Speaking of living in a bubble.
Hamid Karzai should order the carpet-bombing of all the puppet fields as a start.
Then remind muslims that if they want to be respected and accepted by the world community, they should start reading about Sufism if they can, instead of their phony scripture. Let the world know that from now on only sufi Muslim have a right of entry into America.
There is no room in free societies for domestic dictators. It’s not healthy, it’s not fair to their direct victims/family members. Then their American neighbors. They can also convert to Christianity. Which like Sufism is the ‘Religion of Love’, and Tolerance and (Self-)Knowledge; not Oppression, Aggression, Deviance and Sexual Abuse.
What is proudly branded by the ‘illuminati’ at the UN and elsewhere as the Arab Mind or Culture is the same disease that afflicts the same corrupt bureaucrats that dwell at the UN: A Divine Right that exempt them from watching themselves in the mirror and start confronting their own demons. It’s called Therapy. It’s what differentiate the modern Man from the Savage (while an ideal cover-up for the corrupt).
If the work is still too complicate, please at least authorize us, civilized people, to “Analyze” your “Holy Book”. And break down all your illusions about your so called superior culture or God. We never made the same mistake of conflating Arab culture with Islam anyway. Each time Islamic society did flourish it was thanx to a benevolent king inspired by the philosophy of Sufi Poets and Masters, not ignorant imams and their illiterate co-gangsters and followers.
We know the motives of your present Masters. After 8 years of hearing the whole world bash and betray the last President of the US, then see the same people ridicule and slander the two Republican candidates and then Capitalism itself; after a crisis that was caused by nefarious players on the Left side, we wont let you win your next war again and watch you destroy our cherished world. It is time for us to SPEAK UP loud, we were quiet and hidden for all that time, not anymore.
We were building our case. America and Freedom’s case. And nothing can stop us anymore. We are mad as Hell. In a very light mood also. Which is us in our best attribute. And favorite mode.
So for now, GoodBye!! And enjoy your freedom while you can.
Steve G,
Very good comment. Another thing the lefties overlook is that Afghanistan is not an island. We always needed Pakistan, a country with, back in 2001, a military government, an intelligence service sympathetic to the Taliban, and terrible relations with India. Bush devoted a great deal of work behind the scenes to stabilize events in Pakistan, including preventing a nuclear war with India, dealing with the aftermath of the Bhutto assassination, and trying to secure its nuclear weapons. All the while, he had to improve our intelligence gathering to link AQ and Taliban enemies to networks around the world.
It is impossible for an outsider to evaluate the mistakes or successes of these endeavors, but I do wish the kumbaya set would at least make an effort to appreciate their complexity. Even now Germans are wondering whether the US is using SWIFT information for industrial spying against their industries. We are dealing with a world in which most of the people who criticize us can’t see 2 inches beyond their own self interest. And Obama has promised them all that their dreams will come true.
Now, I’m sure that financial considerations play a part in every war, but I cannot recall any previous Commander-in-Chief conveying this attitude so publicly and openly.
True. When Bush wanted to convey this pernicious message, he at least had the good sense to distance himself by sending one of his toadies.
“We were building our case. America and Freedom’s case. And nothing can stop us anymore. We are mad as Hell. In a very light mood also. Which is us in our best attribute. And favorite mode.”
That’s what worries me. The Nazis gained popular support because the German people were presented with the stark choice of supporting a Republic that was clearly breaking apart and abandoning them to starve in order to pay their war debts, or turn to fanatical zealots who, despite their over-the-top rhetoric, at least seemed willing to feed and protect them. When it comes to a choice between survival and the moral high ground, only rare martyrs will pick the moral high ground, and they seldom are around to vote again after making their choice.
Charles Johnson of LGF can’t understand why conservative blogs are turning into BNP shills, and will probably be blown away when the world turns its back on progress to once again embrace fascism. But it’s all too understandable, if you look at people as creatures making choices that are individually wise if collectively stupid, rather than mere tools for working toward some collective benefit that need to be constantly subjected to rigorous quality control, and discarded or even destroyed if they don’t meet stringent standards. The left has decided, once again, to hold its own people to not only impossible but also blatantly unjust standards, and the only way to survive for the majority that can neither meet those standards nor lie convincingly about meeting them, is to join a group that repudiates the standards, even if the cost is to be enslaved by a murderously authoritarian leadership.
AcidPop–Sorry to rain on your parade with regard to the Sufis but—as pertains to their approach to unbelievers–they are just as harsh and bloodthirsty, if not more so, than the more orthodox Muslims.
Over the years I have read several books on Sufism which focused on their history, mystical approach to Islam and their disagreements with more fundamentalist Muslims which lead to their persecution. However, when you look at the issue of how Sufi’s might view Infidels and how they would treat them, as the quotes below from well-known, prominent Sufis show, they are on the same page as the fundamentalists.
These excerpts are taken from a much longer and well documented article written by Andrew G. Bostom titled, “Sufism without Camouflage (Beyond Stephen Schwartz),” posted on Jihadwatch.org for February 6, 2005.
I. Al-Ghazali
The eminent Islamic scholar W.M. Watt stresses Al-Ghazali’s Muslim orthodoxy. He says that Al-Ghazali was “acclaimed in both the East and West as the greatest Muslim after Muhammad, and he is by no means unworthy of that dignity…He brought orthodoxy and mysticism into closer contact…the theologians became more ready to accept the mystics as respectable, while the mystics were more careful to remain within the bounds of orthodoxy.”[1]
Here is Al-Ghazali, evidently with no intention of departing either from Sufism or Muslim orthodoxy, writing about jihad war and the treatment of the vanquished non-Muslim dhimmi peoples:
[O]ne must go on jihad (i.e., warlike razzias or raids) at least once a year…one may use a catapult against them [non-Muslims] when they are in a fortress, even if among them are women and children. One may set fire to them and/or drown them…If a person of the Ahl al-Kitab [People of The Book — primarily Jews and Christians] is enslaved, his marriage is [automatically] revoked…One may cut down their trees…One must destroy their useless books. Jihadists may take as booty whatever they decide…they may steal as much food as they need…
[T]he dhimmi is obliged not to mention Allah or His Apostle…Jews, Christians, and Majians must pay the jizya [poll tax on non-Muslims]…on offering up the jizya, the dhimmi must hang his head while the official takes hold of his beard and hits [the dhimmi] on the protruberant bone beneath his ear [i.e., the mandible]…
They are not permitted to ostentatiously display their wine or church bells…their houses may not be higher than the Muslim’s, no matter how low that is. The dhimmi may not ride an elegant horse or mule; he may ride a donkey only if the saddle[-work] is of wood. He may not walk on the good part of the road. They [the dhimmis] have to wear [an identifying] patch [on their clothing], even women, and even in the [public] baths…[dhimmis] must hold their tongue…. [2] (From the Wagjiz, written in 1101 A.D. Emphasis added.)
(This last provision about Jews having to wear an identifying patch was the inspiration for the Nazi requirement that Jews had to wear an visible, identifying Star of David emblem.)
III. Sirhindi (d. 1624)
Shariat can be fostered through the sword.
Kufr and Islam are opposed to each other. The progress of one is possible only at the expense of the other and co-existence between these two contradictory faiths is unthinkable.
The honor of Islam lies in insulting kufr and kafirs. One who respects kafirs, dishonors the Muslims. To respect them does not merely mean honoring them and assigning them a seat of honor in any assembly, but it also implies keeping company with them or showing considerations to them. They should be kept at an arm’s length like dogs….If some worldly business cannot be performed without them, in that case only a minimum of contact should be established with them but without taking them into confidence. The highest Islamic sentiment asserts that it is better to forego that worldly business and that no relationship should be established with the kafirs.
The real purpose in levying jizya on them (the non-Muslims) is to humiliate them to such an extent that, on account of fear of jizya , they may not be able to dress well and to live in grandeur. They should constantly remain terrified and trembling. It in intended to hold them under contempt and to uphold the honor and might of Islam.
Cow-sacrifice in India is the noblest of Islamic practices. The kafirs may probably agree to pay jizya but they shall never concede to cow-sacrifice.
The execution of the accursed kafir of Gobindwal [a Sikh who lead an uprising against the oppressive Muslim rule of his community] is an important achievement and is the cause of great defeat of the accursed Hindus…Whatever might have been the motive behind the execution, the dishonor of the kafirs is an act of highest grace for the Muslims. Before the execution of the kafirs I had seen in a vision that the Emperor had destroyed the crown of the head of Shirk. Verily he was the chief of the Mushriks and the leader of the kafirs.
Whenever a Jew is killed, it is for the benefit of Islam. [11]
1. Watt, W.M. [Translator]. The Faith and Practice of Al-Ghazali, Oxford, England, 1953, p. 13.
2. Al-Ghazali (d. 1111). Kitab al-Wagiz fi fiqh madhab al-imam al-Safi’i, Beirut, 1979, pp. 186, 190-91; 199-200; 202-203. [English translation by Dr. Michael Schub.]
11. Saiyid Athar Abbas Rizvi, Muslim revivalist movements in northern India in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Agra, Lucknow: Agra University, Balkrishna Book Co, 1965, pp. 247-50; Yohanan Friedmann, Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi: an outline of his thought and a study of his image in the eyes of posterity. Montreal, McGill University, Institute of Islamic Studies, 1971, p.74.
For contemporary examples of the Sufi approach to the Jihad and unbelievers see also (http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/01/iraqi-sufis-donate-to-hamas-boast-of-jihad-activity-in-iraq.html).
The fact of the matter is that there are no real liberal /reformist schools–no alternative schools of thought within Islam on the subject of Jihad, on the subject of the Allah commanded and blessed eternal fight between the House of Islam and the House of War, or about the centrality and absolutely imperative nature of Allah’s, the Qur’an’s and Muhammad’s command to convert, enslave or kill all unbelievers until Islam rules all the world and its peoples and “all is for Allah.”
In view of the overwhelming evidence of Islam’s ever present and prosecuted, ferocious and bloody Jihad against all unbelievers down through 1,400 hundred years of history and up until this very day, to believe otherwise, and pin your hopes on Islam being liberalized, modernized, tamed and de-fanged by some hoped for but fictitious “moderate school” within Islam is a fatal delusion.
Mitsu:
Bush failed to put time and attention to this war and things in Afghanistan have deteriorated badly since we “won” the war against the Taliban. The Taliban are resurgent. It is a dangerous situation there and pulling the troops out would be both foolhardy and absurd.
I think that is an excellent point.
I think in the first half of the speech he made an excellent case, as you do above, for sending a whole lotta combat power for as long as it takes to stabilize AF-Pak and turn it over to functional security forces we trained.
So why did he only send 30K troops for 18 months?
Poppies, not puppets. Maybe puppets too.
As for Sufism. And Sufis, I always look for the fake ones myself. Not uncommon.
On the other hand, texts can be manipulated and rewritten too.
Identities stolen.
Do you think I consider Richard Gere a true Buddhist?
Respectfully,
me
Mitsu wrote, “However, the fact is that if things do not improve in Afghanistan the withdrawal timetable is going to go out the window and everyone ought to realize that.”
BEFORE i came in and read that I had the following thoughts this morning:
1)The enemy looking at the timetable could see the opportunity in calming down for 18 months – we leave – they take over and commit mass atrocities – returning women to slavery, “cleansing” the population of people who were friendly to us, etc. AND… they even might wait until Obama gets re-elected. Timetable = 18 months out, surge in popularity for Obama, re-elected, enemy takes over.
2)Or what Mitsu said happens. They look at the timetable as their opportunity to create mayhem and inflict as much harm as possible so that we either withdrawl amid such a hardship or send in even more troops.
Option 2 would be very bad for Obama in the polls. Obama might’ve stepped in it because he can’t control the enemy.
Because of Obama’s LACK of executive experience and lack of historical knowledge – he missed one important point. Don’t give the enemy information they can use. You can’t control the enemy. The enemy will do everything in their power to win the war.
Will they choose option 1 or 2?
C’mon guys–give Obama a break! It says right here in Sun Tzu’s Art of War:
“It is of utmost importance to disclose to the enemy just how long you plan on fighting and just how much you may commit to the the fight so they may plan accordingly”.
Some random thoughts on last night’s speech:
The war in Afghanistan is a “distraction”, in that Obama is momentarily forced to focus on something other than his tax and spend agenda. During the campaign any topic he did not want to address was dismissed as a distraction. This is just a bigger distraction. If the fact that McChrystal had requested troops back in August to conduct a surge was not leaked we would probably know nothing of the request and Obama would still be sitting on it.
Nine or ten meetings were held at which Obama stated that everyone had a say. Everyone, that is, but McChrystal, who was not invited and whose input was not thought relevant as he doesn’t get “the big picture”. I wonder what military expertise Obama received in making his decision.
I originally read that McChrystal asked for 40,000 troops to conduct a successful surge. Now I read he asked for 80,000. If McChrystal later asks for 100 tanks will he be given 40? If the surge fails, by shortchanging McChrystal Obama will take the blame for the failure. This is not smart politics.
Obama knows that he will be blamed for the failure if the surge does not succeed and, apparently, does not care that much. The war is a distraction. So, the politics are not that important. Why?
The delay in making the decision and the failure to provide all that was asked for sends signals to governments throughout the world that Obama is weak and vacillating. If that dreaded phone call comes in at 3:00 a.m., will it take three months for Obama to respond? What ally will be imprudent enough to pony up troops that may be endangered by Obama’s indecisiveness?
The auditorium where the speech was given was very impressive. The uniformed audience, although not very warm to the speech, added to the importance of the occasion. There is a hint of fascism in this scene that is more than a little scary.
Why announce the decision publicly if to do so might endanger our troops and our aims? Obama has the wrong focus and, by concentrating on appeasing the far left, is losing the middle, and quickly. He knows this and doesn’t care. Why?
Why not throw the far left to the wolves and act more like the centrist that he ran as? After all, where are they going to go? Why is he acting in a politically suicidal manner when he must know that, if anything, he controls the left?
None of what he is doing passes the test of reasonableness. Do any of the Obami give him more than lip service?
Obama’s foreign policy is more on the order of how the mayor of Chicago deals with the mayor of Cicero.
There is no subtlety, no planning beyond next week, no learning from experience, no alliances with nations with common interests (in fact, deliberate snubs to countries that have common interests), kissing up to despicable regimes, and giving up any pretense of a policy protective of human rights. This is the net sum of Obama’s foreign policy to date.
Do you think we will at least evacuate the American collaborators and supporters out of the Kabul airport in 2011, or just leave them to be butchered by the Taliban?
The popping sound you hear are liberal heads exploding, although I’m not quite sure why they are upset. The speech did not contain a single use of the word “win.”
AcidPop–P.S.–I can’t know for sure, but I believe that the idea that the vast majority of Muslims are “peace loving moderates” is wishful thinking and incorrect, and that the idea that there is, today, a major war within the Muslim world between “moderates” and “fundamentalists,” fighting “for the soul of Islam” is also incorrect, if the thought is that they are fighting over how they should view and treat us “unbelievers.” There is certainly, and has always been, violent conflict within the Muslim world between various factions and power centers, but these conflicts are over who gets the power, influence, wealth and control, not over how to view and treat unbelievers, or over whether or not to observe the command of Allah and the Qur’an to “kill the unbelievers wherever you find them.”
I believe such particular ways of viewing Islam and Muslims are all Muslim propaganda–part of the “disinformation” side of the Jihad–designed to confuse and disarm us unbelievers, to make us believe that the mortal threat all unbelievers face from Islam and its Jihad is much less lethal, is not accelerating and spreading, is not as subversive, fundamental, strong, substantial, enduring, and existential as it really is.
I would say, rather, that the majority of Muslims are very well aware of the imperatives of Islam and of Allah’s, the Qur’an’s and Muhammad’s command to pursue Jihad, of the division of the world into two eternally warring camps–the House of Islam and the House of War (that would be us “unbelievers,” those who yet remain unconquered by Islam) and Islam’s imperative to conquer the House of War, but are sitting on the fence, observing; that the majority of Muslims cannot “go on Jihad,” because of age, circumstance and/or temperament, but that even individual Muslims who are young and healthy and so inclined, are not yet quite ready to actively, physically jump into the fray in great numbers; for now, they let the small number of extremely radical, young hotheads take point. But the imperative commands of Allah, Muhammad, the Qur’an, Islam and the Jihad remain, and when the time is right, the rest will pile on.
Some unknown percentage of Muslims, I am sure, may have the inclination to just observe the small religious core of the military-political ideology that is Islam–the “Five Pillars,” and/or never join the fray, but Islam has a very efficient 1,400 years old policing mechanism, and it works–from social pressure, to ostracism, and on up through torture and including death at the hands of fundamentalist enforcers–to discourage dissent or leaving Islam, so that, except in the case of a handful of exceptionally brave or foolhardy individual Muslims out of 1.3 billion or so Muslims, Muslims do not and will not voice any dissent.
Islamic law allows for various categories of Muslims unable to pursue physical Jihad–the old, the infirm, the insane, the very young (although these exemptions are very often ignored in practice, as we have seen in recent years) to, instead, support it financially, and I am sure they do, as does all the Umma. The Muslim community (the Umma) also provides major support for Jihad by their silence, their blame deflecting tactics, and their lack of condemnation of Muslim terrorist attacks. But, most importantly, they also support the Jihad by their constant “peaceful” pressure on unbeliever societies they settle in (as Saudi textbooks tell them, Muslims in the House of War should regard themselves as “scouts behind enemy lines”)–financial, political and legal–for “accommodations” to Islamic practice and law, so that–for the present in America–these are their major contributions to the Jihad.
The types, techniques and stages of Muslim’s Jihad against all unbelievers and their societies and governments–both violent and apparently “peaceful”–are well illustrated by ancient, medieval, and modern history.
As others have noted (see for instance here http://www.francesandfriends.org/content/tactics-islam), as the percentage of the Muslim population in a country grows, Muslim activities, agitation, demands, and influence become more wide-spread and Muslim actions more openly violent in nature, until they are mostly violent, and the overthrow of the unbeliever society is achieved; we have not yet reached this point, but, arguably, many countries in Europe are fast approaching that critical juncture.
Given this situation, this history, these facts, it is obvious that an immediate and permanent ban on any further immigration by Muslims into the U.S. is our own first “unbeliever” imperative, the first step of many if we are to avoid the inevitable, massive amount of turmoil, danger and bloodshed that Muslims bring wherever they “settle” i.e. invade, colonize, parasitize, and attempt to overthrow and conquer the unbeliever countries that together constitute the “free-fire zone” that is the “House of War.”
My God this man is hopeless. Truly, irredeemably hopeless.
In addition to the points made above about the Taliban (if I were in the Taliban, I’d take an 18 month vacation), consider the Afghan peasant caught in the middle.
Cooperate with the US, which will be gone in 18 months? With the Taliban keeping track of who is doing so, and putting them on their “To Do” list? You’d have to be out of your mind to assist in the slightest way.
Consider also Mitsu’s point, which was less delusional than normal, that Obama threw out the 18 month notion as a political sop that he will backtrack on if need be. If so, then in essence Obama will withdraw the troops in less than 18 months, in 18 months, or in more than 18 months, i.e., he said nothing. All he did was guarantee that Afghanistan will remain unresolved for 18 months. What an idiot!
Bring back Jimmy Carter!
Wolla Dalbo: You really don’t have to convince me about the Lie/Parasite called Islam. My country of origin (Persia) has been amongst its first victims. But our spirit is not dead and one day we will take our identity, country, and culture back. I’m working on it. And I have many allies too. Spiritual warriors all.
I was also mainly being tongue-in-cheek. Nobody really expects Muslim fundamentalists morph into accomplished thinkers, lovers and philosophers. But that’s not even the point. We must lay out a plan and a strategy that reflects reality. The therapy part and corruption angle included.
Ultimately there is only one solution: leave or abandon the power struggle inherent to your culture and become truly a Free and Defender of America and her Constitution, instead.
All existing mosques can be transformed into Turkish Baths or Tea-rooms. Most Imams sent back to Mecca. or Jail.
Something has to be done, don’t you agree? I believe in the power of ideas and words when the words are right.
It takes a lifetime to reach the light, and many losses too. Without free, courageous, loving souls, there is no reaching the truth, nor solution to peace, only another war. The second condition for this battle to succeed is to enlighten and awaken as many citizens/patriots as possible. Something our modern technology has provided us. And this too:
Already, America is not the same anymore. Tea Parties and Townhall protests have changed the equation forever. Politicians and pundits and journalists and actors have been seen in a not such bright light lately. And patriots across the globe are working quietly or not so quietly towards the same goal: we want our freedom back. And money too.
We should rejoice and understand our new gained power. In any case, let’s stop fighting each others and unite because the real change and the real hope is in the air and coming our way. If we can see it. And I believe all Patriots do. We have no other choice than face the music. And “We The People” have finally the easy spot this time around.
Love And Merry Christmas to Everyone!!!
the fact is that if things do not improve in Afghanistan the withdrawal timetable is going to go out the window and everyone ought to realize that.
Did Obama save himself?
neoneocon.com/2008/03/18/did-obama-save-himself/#comment-61320
they dont need strength to beat the attriction game. the alligator just holds the animal underwater and holds its breath. eventually it cant keep it up, it leaves, and weapons pour in and the place changes back.
all you arm chair generals seem to STINK
if al queda wanted us out, they only have to stop for three months… call off all actions… voila, we leave faster than a bat out of heck.
i keep explaining this, but its like talking to students who have been given terrible facts, and they keep presenting them over and over and over.
they WANT the US in the country.
they WANT the US to stay indifinitely.
they control us by controlling conflict initiation
its as simple as listening to mohamed!
If Mohammed will not go to the mountain, the mountain must come to Mohammed.
something that you say which means that if someone will not come to you, you have to go to them
Usage notes: This phrase comes from a story about Mohammed who was asked to show how powerful he was by making a mountain come to him.
if AQ cant load up military ships, and invade the USA to get access to the people to fight them…
then they have to get us to come there to be attacked and then lose through attrition.
and obamas minimalist plays, as in vietnam, are exactly what needs to be done by an enemy in order for attritional losing.
that is, if you meet force with just enough force, you tie, and if you tie, you have stalemate, and if you have stalemate…
the more expensive costlier side loses.
he is PLANNING TO LOSE and its clear to someone that knows REAL tactics and REAL strategies and how people really naturally act.
its irrelevent if he is being played, or he was taught losing tactics as winning ones.
the end result is the same.
but i know if we give it a good label we will think it differently.
anyone notice that someones been teaching them?
[and that the reason they are not doing anything here stateside is that its counter to ends. an action here (like mumbai) would solidify out resolve. they didnt want that, they just wanted us to send troops over there that they can kill cheaply while running up our tab. but obama showed them, he ran up the tab much larger for nothing]
Sarah Palin says she approves of Obama’s plan to send 30,000 troops on her facebook page.
THE LIBERALS HEADS ARE GONNA EXPLODE! HA!