Posted on 10/29/2009 8:42:01 AM PDT by Schnucki
Afghanistan and Pakistan are being shaken by attacks, and the Taliban is dictating the course of the war. US President Obama has been silent about the situation for far too long and European countries like Germany and France are correct to demand better American leadership on the issue of Afghanistan.
The most important piece of news from the most recent meeting of NATO defense ministers was that there was no news.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen pointed out the dangers of failure on the part of the Western military alliance in Afghanistan. The war effort is already underfunded to the tune of several hundred million euros. Nevertheless, the costs of defeat will be much higher than the costs of the mission, Rasmussen said at the NATO summit in Bratislava, Slovakia last week.
His warnings fell on deaf ears, with only Great Britain agreeing to a slight increase in troop strength. All other NATO defense ministers, including, of course, the German defense minister, remained politely aloof when it came time to make commitments.
For once, this hesitation cannot be attributed to widespread war fatigue in Europe. The mission in Afghanistan is seen as a toxic issue in all Western nations, and every government that has provided troops has come under sharp criticism at home. What the US's NATO allies now find far more irritating is US President Barack Obama's silence on the issue.
The world has been waiting for clear words from the White House for months. Obama has had government and military analysts studying the military and political situation in the embattled Hindu Kush region since early January. He appointed Richard Holbrooke, probably the US's most effective diplomat in crisis situations, to be his special envoy to the "AfPak" region, he has replaced generals and he has deployed more
(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...
Good luck. This administration is laying the groundwork for retreat.
Peace. “...... we will not surrender for it, now or ever...”.
http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1984
I suppose his trip to Dover AFB overnight sets his mind at ease that he’s actively doing something to support the troops.
What do they mean "better"? He has yet to show ANY leadership.
The Amateur In Chief will not act until after the election cycle in November.
Well darn. The commercial I wanted to link is at the top right of the posted link, with the pic of the little girl.
These were the days of true leadership and a real President.
Never, ever forget this: Mr. Obama couldn’t close and umbrella.
He was a US senator for a few years who oversaw about 90 employees(actually, his chief of staff did that).
Military leadership? Hell, if he had MacArthur advising him, he still wouldn’t make a decision.
Mr. Obama’s strength? Spending other peoples’ money.
No more, no less.
Error.
“Better” implies the existence of something that can be surpassed.
The UK posted a similiar story this morning. Our allies are recognizing Obama for what he is.
His "dilly-dallying" and inability to make a decision is a major part of why these heroes are coming home in coffins. Voting "Present" and heading to the golf course, basketball court, or black power rally doesn't cut it! If zer0 thinks a trip to Dover excuses him, he is sadly mistaken.
[1] Until recently Germany’s contribution to theWOT in Afghanistan has been limited to hand holding in the northern areas. They JUST recentlychanged their ROEs.
[2] Germans were one of those peoples who couldn’t wait for old “Unilateral W’ to finish his term, so a more sophisticated Il Douche could take the reins, and work multilaterally with our “betters” in Europe.
So, Germany. How’s that “Hope and Change” workin’ for ya now?
The President is far too busy fighting the “real enemy” Fox News. Says alot about the man.
When is he going to Afghanistan and second why the secret trip at midnight that is no longer a secret to Dover?
So the Europeans are pissed off that Obama is acting like them?
Thought they’d be happy that the era of “Cowboy Diplomacy” and America going in unilaterally is over.
I doubt he’ll go to Afghanistan, and the secret trip at midnight - don’t they have the WH parties on Wednesday nights? He was probably still awake and dressed late due to the party, and thought it might as well be turned into a photo op.
It won’t be long before they publicly yearn for George W. Bush.
” Military leadership? “
You know this guy has never done things normal American boys would have done growing up.
Small things that prepped them for strategic thinking later on.
We used to play with little Army men .
We would build snow forts and have wars.
In the summers we built forts that we had to defend.
The woods were places where we could let our imaginations run wild, stalking imaginary enemies and plotting victory.
Hunting and firearms safety courses.
When our cars had problems, we spent hours working on them.
Scouting was an important part of the formative years.
Studying American history and military battles.
Watching war movies.
My boys grew up the same way ,but, with the added male dynamic of video games-heavy on the military ones.
This guy was a lazy slacker in high school who abused drugs and alcohol, ran with a bad crowd , cut school and got terrible grades.
Dreams..Page 95.
The upcoming NYT puff piece on the Obamas details how during the recent White House redecorating-
Barry spent a lot of time looking at colors and fabric swatches ,
his obvious comfort zone.
Leadership and strategic thinking and work ethic and character and backbone and common decency and love of country and respect for the military are glaringly absent in our nation’s most derelict Commander in Chief.
And your umbrella analogy is right on .
Dear WIRouge,
Wow! What a great post! Best one I’ve seen in some time.
And he shouldn’t have brought the press with him list night at Dover AFB. That was an example of exceedingly bad taste, and patriotism.
God help us.
=Rex
no that’s not the germans you’re searching for.
(wave)
anyhow I am still amazed that it’s possible to get elected potus even though you are - as you say - a black man. That’s not reall bad in it self. It’s just not enough.
Certainly - that guy found a lot of supporters in germany because he was not W. so he’s black and not somebody we mostly dislike.... well that’s not enough for a POTUS but a good damn reason to come and cheer at him because the old guy didn’t come by so we could all throw our addidas at him.
Throwing our addidas at obama would be a bit - like - redundant anyhow.
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