The war in Afghanistan hardly merits more than a passing mention these days. Obama's year long review came in and basically nobody noticed. We are all too fascinated watching Congress implode. I have said for a considerable time that we couldn't affford to lose in Afghanistan as it would give the Islamists a huge propaganda victory and turbo charge their recruiting and fundraising. I still believe that, but I am forced to look at the reality of the situation, both in theater and back here. The will to win in Afghanistan is gone, to the extent it ever really existed. The people as a whole, just want it to end and Obama's team needs to bet their exit strategy rolling prior to his re-election campaign. So we get the news from the Afghan War Review that Obama's plan is working just fine and we can begin pulling out next Summer, the cut and run date he had announced when he announced his mini-surge. The cover story is that we will transition to Afghan control and step aside as they stand up. I don't know anyone who really believes the Afghans are ready to take the lead in pretty much any part of the civil governance or security of their country. I have an Op-Ed in today's Washington Times on this topic. President Obama lost the war in Afghanistan during the "Great Dithering" of 2009. This was the period when he had all his advisers, including noted national security strategists David Axelrod and Robert Gibbs, huddled together loosely for about nine months. They were trying to find the most politically viable way to deliver on Mr. Obama's campaign promises to personally track down Osama bin Laden and put his head on a pike while simultaneously running the corrupt Karzai regime out of town. Well, they failed in those efforts and now are simply trying to find a way to start leaving in time for Mr. Obama's re-election campaign..... He told our enemies we are packing up in 18 months, taking away the entire rationale for reinforcing. Instead of being worried that the United States was in it to win it, the Taliban and al Qaeda knew they just had to stick it out for a bit and then the Afghan government would be ripe for the picking. These guys can hold a grudge for thousands of years, so a year and a half is like a tea break for them. We, on the other hand, have the attention span of a crack-addled mosquito and are unable to see past the next election cycle. At the most important decision point of his tenure to date, Mr. Obama failed on multiple levels. His strategy was unsound, underresourced and crippled by having a built-in expiration date, and his two top diplomats remained in their jobs despite near-zero rapport with either Afghanistan or Pakistan. What a different position we could be in now if Zalmay Khalilzad had replaced Mr. Holbrooke, Ryan Crocker had replaced Mr. Eikenberry and Mr. Obama had sent the number of troops the military needed for the mission without announcing their return dates.
Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Blackfive/~3/B_z0vhoVkkA/can-we-win-in-afghanistan.html
Posted
Dec 17 2010, 12:03 AM
by
BLACKFIVE