“Obama has now scheduled one of these monthly, right after the labor statistics are reported.”
Obama has taken the fight against Al Quaeda overtly into Pakistan through frequent drone attacks and direct raids such as the one that killed Bin Lauden. For some reason the Bush administration was obsessed with Iraq and executed basically a hands off strategy with Pakistan which was the real sanctuary. During his campaign Obama made a point of speaking to the threat from Pakistan and saying he would take military action against that country which he has.
Before I get flamed, I share the view of many this is the worst administration in US history and its policies are resulting in the economic and cultural destruction of our nation. I will however give credit where credit is due. Bush made a strategic error in invading Iraq. Iraq was the counterweight to Iran in the region and not a direct threat to the US. Afghanistan and Pakistan were the sanctuaries for Al Queda, not Iraq. Had Bush stayed focused on our real enemy, instead of trying to invade and occupy Iraq with too few troops, we might have already been finished with our war with Al Queada.
>raq was the counterweight to Iran in the region and not a direct threat to the US. Afghanistan and Pakistan were the sanctuaries for Al Queda, not Iraq.
No, he did not.
Invading Iraq and replacing Hussein was perfect strategy.
Afghanistan is tactics. Simply tactics that admittedly had to be employed to neuter AQ.
We have no strategic interest in that area.
We do have a HUGE strategic interest in Iraq and the surrounding areas.
We now have a regime that is not hostile to the best interests of America, a fledgling democratic process going on in a mid east country, and a large military presence right in the midst of sensitive region that is a more modern system than is the norm for Arabs, and that presence will remain there for a very, very long time because it is now in the interests of both countries that it remain so.
That is strategy.
Killing a few thousand ragheads - which is all that we have done in Asia, pushing the remainder into other hostile backward countries, and then having to occupy that remote mountainousness backward illiterate country is not strategic vision.
It is tactics that have no lasting value after we leave.
AQ is not the threat that an unleashed Saddam was.
Israel knew it and so did we.
We were already at war with Iraq and had been for ten years. W ended that war by Conquering Baghdad and killing Saddam.
Iraq is the center of peace in the region. Iraq is center to the containment of Iran
The containment of Al Queda is but a part of the whole.
You clearly have very little idea what you are talking about - Amateurs talk tactics, the professionals talk logistics, logistics, logistics. And all the logistics that allowed the Ops running today in Pak (both Pred/Reap and DAs) are from those very logistics put in place during GWB years.
As for the refocus on Pak regions (by Obama) that is only possible because of the success elsewhere provided via the leadership of GWB. Furthermore if you think Iraq was a some type of counterweight to a terrorist supporting / expanding Iran. That is foolishness. Saddam and Iran had their issues but hurting the West was not one of them.
Of course instability in Pakistan carries the ultimate risk. I think Mr. Bush wanted to prevent that.
Bush originated the drone strikes in Pakistan, and part of the wrath was rightly directed at him. For the most part, that was a problem. Obama’s problem was pretty much continuing and not changing much from Bush’s plan.
Attacking Afghanistan was not a smart move, at least how we did it in the sense that we pretty much had little or no way to ensure that whatever extremists were there could just run off into neighboring countries.
With Iraq, we had a number of things that Afghanistan did not. We had a fairly unified nation, which is not the case in Afghanistan, it’s a collection of various warlords, feuding tribes, etc. Getting a few key leaders killed was perhaps the best we can do there. Also, Iraq was a fairly “modern” Middle Eastern Country, which we were really at war with in terms of bombing the cities with airstrikes and cruise missiles, and trying all we could to sanction them, with the hope that Saddam would actually get blown to bits. It never happened. throughout all the Clinton administration, we finally resorted to getting the troops to capture Saddam, and execute him, and setting up a fairly democratic society in the main section of the Middle East. Yes, we pretty much decided to do the unthinkable, while all Obama thinks is neccessary is to cheer on everyone else to Democracy, and forget about what was done in Iraq as a pressuring move and example to everyone else. figuring that prolonged conflict in Afghanistan was absolutely so important was an idea that Obama doesn’t shine forth as much brighter than Bush, especially for continuing it.