Well he is a black militant
urgent enough to call his subcommittee together that has oversight responsibilities — to meet for the first time? we’ll see if it’s THAT urgent ........
Oh please....He didn’t even stop there in 2006 when he visited Iraq...AND PREDICTED ANY SURGE WOULD FAIL.
Those are some pretty big words for a "community organizer." Break out the poster board and markers. Those Taliban guys are REALLY gonna get it now!!!
He doesn't, but he understands his political needs. The problem is that the American public correctly perceives that he's an effeminate twerp, and that his prescription for Iraq has now been demolished. He needs to change the subject of the war to a different war, and he needs to do it quickly.
The problem in Afghanistan is not primarily military, so pushing for a "surge" is not going to help, however it might bolster the mineral coefficient perception of this testosterone-challenged little sissy-boy (please note Jesse: there's really nothing there to remove.)
The problem in Afghanistan lies to the east of Afghanistan. As many analysts noted after the elections which ousted Musharraf's party, the new coalition in Pakistan has no intention of doing anything about Islasmist militants, and they have made it clear they will pay nothing but lip-service to the United States about controlling the tribal areas in the Northwest so problematic for us and our Afghan allies. All the blather about a civilian government with more distance from the ISI than Pervez Musharraf "providing a window of opportunity" was the usual baloney from the liberal press, who wanted to give a boost to their like-minded allies in the new coalition. Now they've conspired not to notice that the ramp-up in Taliban strength coincides with three things: 1) Tolerable weather in the passes -- expected. 2) Success in Iraq -- expected. 3) The new Paki government -- expected if you listened to the right analysts and ignored the New York Times and their squishy friends in the Pakistani press.
Karzai's threat to take the war to the enemy even if it meant crossing the border was an extraordinary statement, and it tells you where the problem is.
Community based policing, outreach, and other Petraeus-style counterinsurgency remedies will help, but they won't be enough until we start getting some help from the Paki's, they look the other way, or Karzai makes good on his threats.
So is Obambi scaremongering?