President Obama: Worse Than Jimmy Carter?
Finally, President Obama is waging war. Unfortunately, President Obama has decided to wage war against David Petraeus and Stanley McChristal. Here’s their attack on Gen. McChrystal:
An adviser to the administration said: “People aren’t sure whether McChrystal is being naïve or an upstart. To my mind he doesn’t seem ready for this Washington hard-ball and is just speaking his mind too plainly.”
Gen. McChrystal replied forcefully:
In London, Gen McChrystal, who heads the 68,000 US troops in Afghanistan as well as the 100,000 Nato forces, flatly rejected proposals to switch to a strategy more reliant on drone missile strikes and special forces operations against al-Qaeda.
He told the Institute of International and Strategic Studies that the formula, which is favoured by Vice-President Joe Biden, would lead to “Chaos-istan”. When asked whether he would support it, he said: “The short answer is: No.” He went on to say: “Waiting does not prolong a favorable outcome. This effort will not remain winnable indefinitely, and nor will public support.”
If I’m forced to choose between trusting Gen. Vice-President Joe Biden or Gen. McChrystal on national security matters, I’ll choose Gen. McChrystal. It’s important that we remind ourselves that Vice President Biden was the idiot who thought we had the authority to split Iraq into 3 separate countries. He pitched the Biden Option while Sen. McCain pitched the Surge. Obviously, the Surge worked, thanks to Gen. Petraeus’s brilliant plan and Gen. Odierno’s decisionmaking.
Fast-forward to today. Here’s how the Obama administration is treating Gen. Petraeus:
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the face of the Iraq troop surge and a favorite of former President George W. Bush, spoke up or was called upon by President Obama “several times” during the big Afghanistan strategy session in the Situation Room last week, one participant says, and will be back for two more meetings this week.
But the general’s closest associates say that underneath the surface of good relations, the celebrity commander faces a new reality in Mr. Obama’s White House: He is still at the table, but in a very different seat.
No longer does the man who oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have one of the biggest voices at National Security Council meetings, as he did when Mr. Bush gave him 20 minutes during hourlong weekly sessions to present his views in live video feeds from Baghdad. No longer is the general, with the Capitol Hill contacts and web of e-mail relationships throughout Washington’s journalism establishment, testifying in media explosions before Congress, as he did in September 2007, when he gave 34 interviews in three days.
Based on these reports, I’m left wondering whether the Obama administration wants to lose the war in Afghanistan. Obviously, they’ll never admit it but their actions aren’t giving people confidence that they’re interested in winning. Their actions don’t even say that it’s a priority.
I’ve said before that the Obama administration’s foreign policy reminded me of the Carter administration’s foreign policy. I’m revising that to say that the Obama administration’s foreign policy doesn’t even meet the lowly standard established by the Carter administration.
The Obama administration has shown a hostility towards the military experts. What’s worse is that they’ve done these things to appease their anti-war left fringe. Their actions say that they’d rather lose a war than ruffle their political allies’ feathers.
That’s a disgusting set of priorities.
Technorati Tags: Military, Afghanistan, McChrystal, Iraq, Petraeus, Surge, John McCain, National Security, Joe Biden, President Obama, Jimmy Carter, Appeasement, Anti-War Left, Democrats
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
October 5th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Petraeus and McChristal make decisions based on what is best for the USA and their troops. Biden/Obama make decisions based on what the polls of their popularity show or what their donors and unions desire, without regard to the best interest of the USA or our troops. Barf.
October 5th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
I beg to differ, Biden/Obama make decisions on what their donors, the unions, the holders of our debt and the G 20 desire. If popularity polls meant anything, we wouldn’t be having national health care jammed into every orifice they could find.
October 5th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
“I’m revising that to say that the Obama administration’s foreign policy doesn’t even meet the lowly standard established by the Carter administration.”
The Carter administration had foreign policy standards? Dang, ya learn something every day, I guess.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Every time I think of Jimmy Carters foreign policy I think of that special delegation, he sent to Taipei, to shmooze over the Taiwanese, after he stabbed them in the back.
They were on the ground 20 minutes before they were haeding back to Washington. Thats how long it took the Taiwanese, to tell him to shove his shmooze where the sun doesn’t shine.