Posted on 09/22/2009 7:24:19 PM PDT by Saije
The administration's handling of Afghanistan policy has been amateur hour. The leak of General Stanley McChrystal's assessment of the dire situation there faces President Obama with by far his most serious foreign-policy challenge. It's also a challenge to what appears to be his whole approach to foreign policy.
...who's responsible for allowing President Obama to get into this mess?
What mess? That, of course, is the administration's immediate spin. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton even maintained...that while Gen. McChrystal might be making one set of recommendations, the administration is talking with others who disagree. Really? Is Obama running an administration where an analysis required of a four-star general confirmed into his job by the Senate—an analysis drafted by an international civilian and military team of experts recruited for the task—can be second-guessed by some guy someone at State knows in a think tank? What's worrying about this administration is that the answer may be: yes.
...In office, Obama ordered up a new Afghanistan strategy, and announced this on March 27 as the product of what he called "a careful policy review." Shorn of rhetoric, the new strategy actually accepted all the Bush administration's goals in Afghanistan...The review even added a new goal: saving Pakistan—or, as the review put it, "assisting efforts to enhance civilian control and stable constitutional government in Pakistan and a vibrant economy...And to accomplish this breath-taking set of objectives? Obama had already agreed to send another 17,000 troops to Afghanistan to safeguard polling in the Afghan presidential election in August. Now, as part of his new strategy, he agreed to send an additional 4,000 troops to train Afghanistan's own forces.
What remains a mystery is whether Obama thought those 21,000 would be enough, or whether he was ducking a tough decision to send the numbers really needed...
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
ping.
Is it "Pretend We're Journalists Hour" at Newsweek?
That CAN’T be a serious question.
Unfortunately.
Good comeback.
....Obama is way over his head....his background is that of an urban Negro...he’s all about government social welfare programs for the inner city...he’s a military illiterate with a non-American upbringing and no world view....he’s the same as Maxine Waters or Shiela Jackson Lee.
“And who’s responsible for allowing President Obama to get into this mess? That is serious”
Uhhh, maybe OBAMA? Ya dumba**.
Is this the foreign policy thing Biden was talking about, or is it Honduras?
“And who’s responsible for allowing President Obama to get into this mess?”
The 53 Million people who voted for him.
Surprising from Newsweak.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sure has been quiet. Not sure what to make of it. Her name rarely pops up any more and considering the Cabinet position she has it makes one wonder what is going on.
Hillary will be gone next year.
I agree. It is a pretty fair article.
Unfortunately, I suspect our troops and those who once again believed the promises of America (see Vietnam or the Kurds) will have the rug pulled out from under them by liberals.
Obama inherited the mess (didn't he just say in a speech that we didn't get into this mess overnight?) He's trying the best he can and he inherited all these terrible problems and it isn't fair. The people who created the mess should just pipe down and get out of his way while he cleans it up. So there.
JUST DON'T SAY ANYTHING. Shhhhhhhh.
Obama marginalized Hillary by giving her an important position at state. He immediately eliminated what could have been one of his most effective critics by giving her a title she wanted.
He then rendered her impotent (no pun intended) by using other persons outside of state and her control to dictate foreign policy. I am not even sure she has much access to Obama nor does she appear to even be important to the administration.
Obama wrecked the Clintons. He owned them from start to finish. I will be surprised if she stays for 4 years.
It’s being in Newsweek means that the One really is in trouble. Apparently Newsweek and the WaPo don’t want to be the Cronkite of this war and help to lose it. It’s a good sign.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.