Obama's Afghanistan: The Goldilocks War
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afghanistan anti-war Democrats Liberals pakistan surge taliban Terrorism withdrawIn his speech to the nation President Obama stated that he was going to send 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan to form a “surge” intended to turn the tide of the war. At the same time, he announced that he would be withdrawing those very same forces beginning in 2011. By linking a withdraw date with a surge date, Obama hopes to show he is serious in winning the war yet wise enough to avoid an even more protracted engagement. In fact, he will achieve neither with his “too cold, too warm” approach. In war there is not “just right.”
Guerrilla fighters such as we find in Afghanistan and Pakistan are successful because they use their enemies’ strengths against them, making them weaknesses. Thus, if you are fighting a conventional military with planes, troops, and bases, you attack beyond their areas of control, forcing them to stretch their lines. If you face an enemy that is proud because the “will of the people” is listened to, you stage bombings and events in front of camera crews or before elections so as to make their voters somber and tired. If you face a foe that is hesitant to engage in border areas, you hide and attack within those border areas exposing them as being weak. And if you face an enemy that sets a timetable for withdraw you lie low letting a lull set in until they do withdraw, then you attack with full force. Any way you look at it, if you play your enemy’s strengths as weaknesses you can defeat them.
And so shall it go with the Taliban and Afghanistan. They are in it for the duration, however long that lasts. Since Obama has already set a withdraw date he is saying that he does not have the political will to see the conflict through to its logical conclusion: victory. Having set an end date that is during his re-election year also shows he will not be willing to adopt bold strategic moves that could turn the tide. Everybody said President Bush was crazy to go for his surge in Iraq. It worked, violence dipped and calm broke out. Bush never set a withdraw date… he always maintained that conditions on the ground would determine that. His was the correct strategy.
Because President Obama adopts half-measures in everything he does he can never be truly successful in anything he attempts. When you are simply wasting billions of taxpayer dollars it is one thing but when you are playing with American military lives it is quite another.
Obama is not the right candidate to lead America into battle and he’s not the right person to achieve any sort of success overseas.
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7:36 AM
I think it’s easier to distribute wealth then actually make important decisions. Obama was inept when he ran for office and he is still inept.
9:03 AM
i love how he whined about bush diverting troops from afghanistan to iraq without detailing why. as in the surge, which worked. which obama voted against.
i found it incredible that he spent more time bashing the prior presidency and their strategic plans than he did outlining his plans and bashing the taliban.
and then there was the self-fellating “human rights” activist obama, who believes in human rights. which is why he didn’t see the dali lama. or why he did nothing while the irani people were dying in the streets at the hands of a despotic regime.
and he never said the US troops would be involved in the surge. nonononono. the trained afghanis will be handling the surge. call me pessimistic, but i don’t see any victory.
i love how he tried to identify with the audience by telling them what he’s done, as in visiting hospitals, etc. go to the front lines you coward and see what the troops are doing.
and as for the actual strategy-sending 30,000 just to remove them in little over a year? what in the hell are they going to accomplish? obama stated they are there as a security force to train the afghanis and hold the major cities.
this was one of the worst speeches i have ever seen, and i watched many of the bush speeches. anyone who can stop and think about his actual lack of plan (AFTER THREE MONTHS OF DELIBERATING) knows this is typical obama: giving the appearance of doing something. if something happens, he gets credit. if it fails, he blames it on the generals.
at least with bush you knew he was dedicated to the plan. obamas plan is a concession, and not a strategy for victory.