Posted on 09/19/2009 7:09:27 AM PDT by MestaMachine
Six months after it announced its strategy for Afghanistan, the Obama administration is sending mixed signals about its objectives there and how many troops are needed to achieve them.
The conflicting messages are drawing increasing ire from U.S. commanders in Afghanistan and frustrating military leaders, who are trying to figure out how to demonstrate that they're making progress in the 12-18 months that the administration has given them.
Adding to the frustration, according to officials in Kabul and Washington, are White House and Pentagon directives made over the last six weeks that Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, not submit his request for as many as 45,000 additional troops because the administration isn't ready for it.> snip
Three officers at the Pentagon and in Kabul told McClatchy Newspapers that the McChrystal they know would resign before he would stand behind a faltering policy that he thought would endanger his forces or the strategy. >snip
The White House still hasn't decided how much political capital it wants to invest in Afghanistan, and it considers a health care overhaul, financial regulatory revisions and energy policy its priorities, the senior defense official said.
In Kabul, however, U.S. commanders said they thought that Obama's strategy was based on McChrystal's assessment of what he needs. "We thought that bringing McChrystal here was their strategy," one said.
Those officials said that taking time could be costly because the U.S. risked losing the Afghans' support. "Dithering is just as destructive as 10 car bombs," the senior official in Kabul said. "They have seen us leave before. They are really good at picking the right side to ally with."
(Excerpt) Read more at miamiherald.com ...
This is the nightmare that every one of us has been fearing.
Thank you for the article. No lunch for me today. my appetite is gone, gone, gone.
How to deal with people like BO.
1. Only do what you are directly told to do (Publicly).
2. Don’t think, just respond.
3. When something goes wrong just respond that your were doing EXACTLY as BO directed.
4. Don’t take any non specific orders. Always ask for specific detailed instructions and then follow them to the letter.
5. Let BO micromanage EVERY minute detail.
6. Never accept “Use your best judgment” order. Let him specify all details.
7. Do nothing except what is precisely defined.
8. Let BO spend all of his time micromanaging the military and pronounce all results as “as directly instructed by the POTUS”.
It works. I’ve had managers who tried this on me and I turned it back on them. After a couple of days they leave me alone and I can get my work done properly.
Just doing what he’s always done - voting “Present”.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0909/Military_vs_health_care.html
September 18, 2009
Categories: Healthcare
Military vs. health care?
This report, from CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, is not exactly how the White House wants things seen right now:
The White House is not ready to hear what the General has to say. All indications are McChrystal now believes he needs 30-40 thousand additional troops. Military sources tell us they worry, it’s a huge decision the White House does not want to get in the way of other issues like health care. But senior military officials have long signaled they can’t wait too long given Afghanistan’s collapsing security.
Starr reported yesterday that the White House had asked McChrystal to hold off on turning in a completed policy review, and this issue is starting to get serious traction among administration critics.
Obummer is like the Emperor Nero: fiddling while Rome burns.
“Obummer is like the Emperor Nero: fiddling while Rome burns.”
More like the Maestro directing the torches.
“In HIS view, he is winning by weakening this country in every possible way. Noice that he won’t reveal his long term vision for America because his goal is to tear it down.”
I agree. He is actively committing treason in open view for all to see.
Neat tactics in an office.
Not worth a **** if you’ve got your butt under fire.
Ping
BTTT
Obamacare is infinitely way more important than our troops fighting and dying for our survival as a nation. /heavy dripping sarc/
Obummer’s motto: “Burn, baby, burn”
Sound familiar?
We need the troops to come home and defend us from our domestic enemies currently occupying DC.
Yeah. The same Troops that get the “Die, worthless scum,” Veteran’s medical care guidebook courtesy der fuhrbama.
He wants Rome to burn.
Neither. He is ZERO, 0.0, a whole new, hithertofore undiscovered virus program in the wild.
Yepper. And he’s already done Paris with his fambly, so I guess it can go too. London is already gone.
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