So the forceful decision in our War of Necessity is… Afghanistanization. Or something. Anyway, policy reviews going on since, supposedly, February, have resulted in this:
President Barack Obama does not plan to accept any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, pushing instead for revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government, a senior administration official said Wednesday.
Obama still is close to announcing his revamped war strategy, most likely shortly after he returns from a trip to Asia that ends on Nov. 19.
The president raised questions at a war council meeting on Wednesday, however, that could alter the dynamic of both how many additional troops are sent to Afghanistan and what the timeline would be for their presence in the war zone, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Obama’s thinking.
Throwing out all the Pentagon recommendations doesn’t bother me, to be quite frank. President Bush did exactly that in September, 2001. Bush’s JCS presented him with what the Pentagon typically comes up with — a big, slow build-up, followed by a great big invasion. The whole thing would have taken six-12 months, by my reckoning — and that’s under ideal circumstances. Instead, Bush told them all to try again.
The JCS responded with a new, “small footprint” plan, that ended Taliban rule in just six weeks. A good leader knows when to tell his subordinates that they’re effing clueless. So don’t fret too much if Obama doesn’t necessarily like the taste of whatever swill the Pentagon is dishing out. The Pentagon has acres of no-good plans, and when the stuff hits the fan, you can guess which plans get pulled off the shelf first.
Then again — Bush did all this in a few days. Obama’s been at it since August. Well, March, actually. And he decided on a new direction back in 2008. Or maybe ‘07. As Jules Crittenden describes the process towards developing a system for reaching a decision to give the matter some considered consideration:
In fairness, even if the president did declare back in 2008 this war was a vital national security interest, and he did signal last spring he was on board with counterinsurgency, and even if he did appoint Gen. Stanley McChrystal to get the job done in May, the general’s recommendations only arrived in August, and the president didn’t look at them until, what, late September, and he’s been really busy this whole time letting Congress bollix his health-care initiative, throwing Eastern Europe under the bus and flying to Copenhagen, that kind of thing, so he’s only been able to squeeze in seven high-level national security meetings, or is it eight? Is it so unreasonable to ask for new options on top of the new options that he asked for on top of the new options that McChrystal gave him? Meanwhile, China’s ass wants kissing and then we’re into the holidays…
Now, I was told back in 2008 by a very smart retired Army guy — who went to work at a pretty high level for the Obama campaign — that four combat brigades were exactly what we needed in Afghanistan, and that that’s exactly what his candidate was promising to send over there. OK, great — mission accomplished. Except that maybe they aren’t enough. Or maybe they’re too much. It all depends on what the definition of “mission” is.
Which, after 18 months of campaigning on the issue and nine months of being the damn CINC, you’d think Obama would know what he wants to do over there. Honestly, the only thing that he ought to still be thinking about is how best to achieve his goals — if we were still living back in March.
But already it’s half past November. And it’s looking more and more like this time we’re really going to see that harsh Afghan winter.
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52 Comments
1. Tweets that mention Vodkapundit » It Could Be Worse; It Could Be Snowing -- Topsy.com:[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Stephen Green, Rick Malizski. Rick Malizski said: RT @VodkaPundit: Afghanistan: It could be worse — it could be snowing. (http://tinyurl.com/ybo53rd) #TCOT [...]
Nov 12, 2009 - 7:49 pm 2. Barefoot Doctor:He’s perplexed in the extreme.
Nov 12, 2009 - 11:50 pm 3. Pajamas Media » It Could Be Worse; It Could Be Snowing in Kabul:[...] Read the entire post here. [...]
Nov 13, 2009 - 4:00 am 4. Dave Surls:“Then again — Bush did all this in a few days. Obama’s been at it since August.”
Well, that’s because George Bush was a very good president, and Barack Obama isn’t.
Barack Obama, when he was criticizing Bush, years before he got elected, pretended like he had all the answers…but, he didn’t have a clue then…and doesn’t now.
Lil Barry is a professional complainer and office seeker, not a commander-in-chief.
If you want someone who can screw up what other people are doing and throw monkey wrenches into the works, call Barry, if you want someone who can actually get the job done…best call somebody else.
Nov 13, 2009 - 4:31 am 5. robotech master:The bottom line is obama has no clue how to run the military or even the slightest idea about war… he has a long track record of being war and history retarded…
Chances are he’s going to keep some kind of “status quo” until the polls show he “can” do something.
I I suspect he will take a slow drawn out approach and see what the polls say and work them there.
Being that he also fears the military I think he will be somewhat happen to have them over there… instead of near him. More so when things start to go down hill on the domestic front.
Nov 13, 2009 - 4:34 am 6. Chuck Pelto:TO: Stephen Green, et al.
RE: The ‘Plan’
He DOES!
But he doesn’t want to admit to it, let alone trot it out.
We’ve seen ‘indicators’ of the Plan over the last 48 hours…..HERE….and….HERE.
These indicators lean towards ‘cut and run’, or as was euphemistically called “Peace with Honor” by Richard Nixon. The latter link is most indicative, as it comes from the Obot put into position as ambassador to Afghanistan by the One.
As I commented somewhere else….
If it’s bad for America, Obama will do it.
So watch what happens…..
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Nov 13, 2009 - 5:12 am 7. Brian:[The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it. - George Orwell]
Good point DS… 12 months ago BO had all the answers AND a plan for Afghanistan. I guess he must have misplaced that plan. He suffers from the same illness as Jimmy Carter… indecision, not a good trait to have in a leader.
Nov 13, 2009 - 5:45 am 8. Obama Rama:No I can’t. I vote present.
Nov 13, 2009 - 6:44 am 9. justasimplepatriot:Barney Fife with good speaking skills, a narcissistic personality disorder and a 4-year employment contract. May the Lord help us.
Nov 13, 2009 - 6:49 am 10. ked5:This is the guy who almost always voted “present”. If he doesn’t have to commit, he won’t. refusing to make a decision IS a decision. He’s voting “present” on Afghanistan. Or as I’ve also observed from wussy libs, if you ignore it long enough, it will go away. (not)
Nov 13, 2009 - 7:24 am 11. Terry Gain:Obviously Obama has Commander In Chief block. He should gather up his briefs, notes and tapes and send them to a trusted confidant. It’s an approach that’s worked before.
Nov 13, 2009 - 7:26 am 12. Jack in Silver Spring:ked5 @ #6: Spot on.
Nov 13, 2009 - 7:28 am 13. David Thomson:Many American voters naively cut Obama some slack regarding his lack of experience due to his Harvard University credentials. That was absurd. A soft science Ivy League degree in today’s world should normally be greeted with ridicule. Affirmative action policies were instituted roughly forty years ago—and they have virtually destroyed the standards of these once great academic institutions. Obama is intellectually shallow and poorly read. Caroline “you know, you know” Kennedy also graduated from Harvard. What more do you need to know? The number one thing most of these folks learn is to stick their wet finger into the air to see which way the wind is blowing. They instinctively gravitate toward big government solutions because it is to their benefit to do so! That’s where the money and power is. Obama is something of a dummy. It is foolish to pretend otherwise. I literally do not think that he has the ability to read a half-way serious book.
Nov 13, 2009 - 7:46 am 14. RE:Obama dithers away while the enemy digs in and reinforces, meaning that when something is eventually done casualties will be higher.
Obama is friggin’ military genius! He’s got Vietnam redux written all over him.
Nov 13, 2009 - 8:16 am 15. Harry Schell:He is looking for a way to lose without getting blamed for it. Dithering and stupid ROE’s will increase casualties and make the situation “unwinnable”, then he will make some “historic” “peace” treaty with the Taliban and AQ.
fighting a war takes guts and he is not even “present” when it comes to that.
Nov 13, 2009 - 8:35 am 16. Phranc:Do you think he consults with Stern first on military maters like he does for everything else? Maybe hes waiting for the solution to include SEIU members.
This man is a joke as POTUS. He is so clueless he is having the terrorist ,who on 9-11 conducted an act of war, in a civilian NY courtroom.
Nov 13, 2009 - 9:02 am 17. Fred Beloit:#16
“Do you think he consults with Stern first on military maters like he does for everything else?”
You mean Howard Stern? Perhaps Obama/Holder will take a page from Howard’s political playbook for road reconstruction and have the trials at night.
Nov 13, 2009 - 9:16 am 18. Libertyship46:I’ve always believed that Obama has to really, really, decide what he expects out of Afghanistan. If all he wants to do is use it as a forward base from which to launch military operations against al Qaeda (the Biden plan), then he certainly does not need 100,000-plus troops to remain in Afghanistan. We can carve out a piece of Afghanistan (like we did in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba) and use it as a forward base against Islamic terrorists. Of course, we would be throwing the rest of Afghanistan under the bus and giving it up to the Taliban, but, hey, throwing people under the bus has never bothered Obama in the past so I don’t think he’ll be too concerned about the average Afghan citizen. The real question is whether or not the Taliban will allow us to stay once they take over again. Maybe, maybe not, but it depends if they decide to let us stay in exchange for reclaiming power in Afghanistan. How long should we stay for? Well, we have been in Guantanamo Bay for over 100 years, we’ve been in Germany and Japan for over 60 years, and we’ve been in Korea for over 50 years. If we do end up getting a permanent base in Afghanistan, it will be just that, a PERMANENT base. So we’ll be staying for quite a while. If we are NOT prepared to do this, if we are not prepared to stay for a generation or two, then we need to leave, now. Maintaining the status quo is not an option and trying to fight a counterinsurgency war on the cheap will only lead to failure. So either get a small permanent base, go all out and defeat the Taliban, or leave. Pretty simply options. Should only take Obama another year or so to figure out what to do.
Nov 13, 2009 - 9:29 am 19. kenny komodo:Obambi does have a plan. He plans on procrastinating and second guessing and changing his mind until we, the people, the pentagon planners, the military, the Afghan people and hell maybe even the Taliban are sick and tired of waiting around to see what in the world he’s waiting for and declare the contest over. Then he can bask in the adulation of the cheering throngs that he loves so much. We’ll pull our troops out and allow the terrorists to have a country wide base to make further plans on destroying our country. But as long as Obambi comes out smelling like a rose it’s all going to be fine. And he can jet off to another summit somewhere.
Nov 13, 2009 - 9:33 am 20. Moho:Yes, I’m sure you were complaining to high heaven for those eight years when Bush didn’t have one.
Nov 13, 2009 - 9:33 am 21. rbj:It’s almost as if The Whine has no executive experience or national office experience.
Oh wait, he doesn’t.
He was briefed on what was going on before the election (as was McCain, to give them a heads up), he had the whole lame Office of the President-Elect thing, was handed off a strategy upon inauguration, announced a new policy in March, has 4 options handed to him that takes him a few months to review and is still unable to come up with anything.
I agree that it is ok to reject a specific plan, but he’s been in the loop for over a year, after campaigning for two years that this is the “necessary war.” He has to have an idea of what he wants by now. This dithering is inexcusable.
Nov 13, 2009 - 9:36 am 22. McGehee:Moho, have you ever tried literacy? It’s all the rage.
As for President Loser, I lean toward “he has no plan.” I think he simply expected that all the bull$#!+ he and Moho have been fed about Bush and Afgh was 100% true and all he needed to do was ask somebody Bush supposedly hadn’t listened to.
Now he’s discovering that everybody he asks tells him to do essentially what was already being done, with minor variations.
That sound we heard from the direction of D.C. was O’s paradigm shifting without a clutch.
Nov 13, 2009 - 9:41 am 23. Terry Gain:Yes, I’m sure you were complaining to high heaven for those eight years when Bush didn’t have one.
Bush approved a strategy which resulted in victory in Iraq. He didn’t sit on the recommendation of his commander for 3 months, while taking counsel from military geniuses like Biden and Kerry.
Nov 13, 2009 - 9:55 am 24. Terry Gain:Moho, have you ever tried literacy? It’s all the rage.
moho does very well for a guy posting from Pakistan.
Nov 13, 2009 - 9:59 am 25. Jim Rockford:Well, it’s been three months since the General that Obama appointed to command in Afghanistan requested the 40,000 additional troops he deemed necessary to win the war. It’s clear now our “Commander-in-Chief” has a problem making a decision. Ever heard the term “analysis paralysis”? But this shouldn’t surprise anyone. Obama had virtually no executive experience coming into the job. A U.S. Army company commander has more executive experience than Obama does — and would make a timely decision. These things take time? Obama has plenty of time for golf and basketball. Reading a teleprompter is Obama’s only stock in trade. Talking about a problem won’t solve it. And this problem isn’t just going away.
Nov 13, 2009 - 10:00 am 26. CLU:I posted this on health care also:
Anyone else notice that when the fires of Presidential responsibility start burning here at home,
Our Dear Leader takes off to some foreign lands to get their praise and put off until next month what he should have stood firm on last month?
Former President Bush is making speeches and telling us what we should be doing.
Bush should announce that he will guide/lead the country while Pres. Hopenchange is doing his celebrity world tours,
I’m sure Obama would agree,
Nov 13, 2009 - 10:06 am 27. nam vet:rather than have to make those painful decisions here at home.
25. Jim Rockford:
And it takes almost 6 months for these troops to train and deploy for the combat zone!
I don’t give this punk any slack anymore,
He is killing and wounding brave American men and women with this slackness bullshit,
either get them into combat or get them the hell out.
This eventual ‘troop escalation’
crap put South Vietnam into the losers column and worst of all,
put my friends lives in danger.
Osama bin Lying is sitting in a cave somewhere grinning like a possum.
Nov 13, 2009 - 10:25 am 28. Sea-Bass:The Surge…The Untold Story (Watch It)
http://www.understandingthesurge.org/screening-room/
Nov 13, 2009 - 10:27 am 29. johnt:Well at least The O and Holder are bringing Khalid Sheik Muhammad to New York for a civilian trial. It should only last for two or three years, generate hurricanes of hate against Bush and America, open the door for dozens of others who are not even entitled to a military tribunal[ they are NOT covered by any Geneva Conventions]and give liberals[?] still another chance to show that bloodthirsty muslim butchers aren’t so bad after all.
They’re not the real enemy.
You see, there’s always a bright side.
Nov 13, 2009 - 10:33 am 30. Drew:Obama is Captain Harriman. Where is Kirk when we need him?
Nov 13, 2009 - 10:50 am 31. Tom G:Will General McChrystal resign? This reminds me of Clinton testing the political winds via polls before making a decision.
Nov 13, 2009 - 11:03 am 32. Chuck Pelto:TO: nam vet
RE: Hmmmmm…..
….you make it sound like Obama’s committing ‘treason’….getting our military men killed like that.
I know that willful forethought to do so to the detriment of the United States can be recognized as treason.
But what about rank incompetence?
Then again, can someone so ’smart’ be so ‘incompetent’? For so long?
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Nov 13, 2009 - 11:23 am 33. BC:[The Truth will out....]
Duh. For one thing, Bush, as is the case for his entire “legacy,” left a complex clusterf*ck of a mess in Afghanistan. As I posted elsewhere, there are essentially two war fronts to the Afghan situation: a semi-quiet one (mostly due to the current news media’s loathing for doing anything that requires even a teensy bit of investigating and analysis) involving lots of special forces and high tech gizmos like Predator drones; and the more public one involving political factors (again poorly covered) that you guys are cluelessly whining about.
Nov 13, 2009 - 11:56 am 34. Real Deal:…left a complex clusterf*ck of a mess in Afghanistan.”
You can’t leave something a clusterf**k of a mess that was already one and pretty much has been for centuries. SNAFU is a term that accurately describes the political state of Afghanistan for a very long time. There has never existed a nation of “Afghanistan” except as lines drawn on a map, there is not much of a sense of nationalism in the people who live within those imaginary boundaries.
They are a bunch of tribes, several of which cross into Pakistan, and it is with their tribe that their loyalties lie. The tribes are what we need to address and work with if we are to be successful and even come close to building a nation.
Nov 13, 2009 - 12:21 pm 35. Fred Beloit:Guessho #20 with one of his/her self-described brilliant observations: “Yes, I’m sure you were complaining to high heaven for those eight years when Bush didn’t have one.”
But Bush did have a non-dawdling plan, unlike the present CinC: (1) Win big in Iraq first. (2) Depose the Taliban in Afghanistan and keep up pressure on their remnants until the mop up in Iraq is complete.
The second now needs bolstering using more troops says the Commanding General. Obama says, “What to do…what to do…uumm what to do.”
Nov 13, 2009 - 12:23 pm 36. Skyfox:Once Obama makes a decision (if he even can) he owns it and must defend it. Thus far, he has allowed his lackeys in Congress to write policy so that he can stand apart from it when it blows up in everyone’s face. He is only capable of accepting credit. Any hint of blame must be laid at the feet of whoever can fit under his bus.
Nov 13, 2009 - 12:30 pm 37. Fred Beloit:Obama :”What to do…ah, ah, what to do? I know: Road trip.”
Nov 13, 2009 - 12:33 pm 38. Moho:Correction: #(1) in my comment above should read “Win big in Iraq quickly[not first]“.
moho does very well for a guy posting from Pakistan.
LOL. And what would be wrong with that, Hillbily Bob? You can’t help but make fools of yourselves.
Nov 13, 2009 - 2:06 pm 39. Moho:The JCS responded with a new, “small footprint” plan, that ended Taliban rule in just six weeks.
Then what are we still doing there all these years later? The Afghan opeates in Kabul, nowhere else. Its the Taliban that rule that country. Only the ignorant bung-wipes that frequent this column would be unaware of that.
Nov 13, 2009 - 2:09 pm 40. Paul -Indiana:Maybe YES, maybe NO. mmm mmm mmm
Nov 13, 2009 - 2:59 pm 41. ETAB:I think that David Thomson is right though I would say it more strongly; Obama is fundamentally ignorant and intellectually unable to think, analyze, learn. His skills are as a personal charmer; he’ll misinform, he’ll manipulate you emotionally and he’ll accuse you of bias (racism) if you don’t go along with him.
It’s all between you and him. He wants/needs to control you. That’s as far as it goes. He’s not interested in policy, in America, in Americans. It’s just Him..and His control of you.
That’s all there is to him. Just the wink, the grin, the assertion that he ‘loves’ the adulating audience, the call for a ’shout out’…and professorial admonitions that, ‘let me be clear’..about what apocalytpic futures we face if we don’t do as he tell us.
As President, this need for adulation and for control, has increased, and he is getting more and more stressed out at being in positions of making decisions – because decisions aren’t that all-important interaction between Him and you…and they might cause criticism of Him. Obama can’t abide criticism.
I agree that Obama doesn’t have the ability to even read a serious book; and that includes reading and understanding policies. Economic, health, military..any policy. He’s clueless; he can’t think through a scenario, analyze its causes, its results. So, how does he come to decisions??
If the situation doesn’t involve him personally, which is to say, if it doesn’t mean a personal performance, where he can preach at you, assert his control over you, assure himself of your unstinting adoration…then, his mind is totally empty.
He has no reference ground on which to make a decision. No knowledge of history. No understanding of economic principles. No ability to analyze cause and effect. Nothing.
So, he does what his BackRoom Gang tells him. They are the ones who wrote the porkstimulus; the cap and trade; the health care. They are the socialist gang. Obama’s only interest is in the power to control the audience..and make them ‘His To Control’. That’s it.
With regard to Afghanistan, I suspect Obama is being told by his utopian BackRoom Gang to get out. He’s been trying to ‘test the public mood’ on this for several week, with lots and lots of ‘leaks’ (heh) about corruption in the Afghan govt (so what else is new); about the need for ‘change in Afghan rule’..and so on.
Nov 13, 2009 - 3:08 pm 42. Steve DeMarcus:Well the American public will make a decision for him at the voting booth! He can’t but we most certainly can, no more speeches and razzle dazzle, get out of your office and our lives SCUMBAG!
Nov 13, 2009 - 4:53 pm 43. Real Deal:Then what are we still doing there all these years later?
Two reasons:
1) The Taliban and AQ are like cockroaches, the initial invasion was like turing the lights on. They all scattered and ran back into the walls (aka Pakistan). We’re trying to root out the infestation.
2) Americans like the ideal of lifting up others, we could have gone there and smashed everything and left but we’re not like that. It would have been far easier to turn the entire region to a radio active wasteland of fused glass, but that’s not in line with the “American Way” as a whole.
Nov 13, 2009 - 5:13 pm 44. Chuck Pelto:TO: Real Deal
RE: Additionally….
….I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Iran is another place where they ran to for help.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Nov 13, 2009 - 6:00 pm 45. Moho:[Bomb, Bomb, Bomb;
Bomb, Bomb Iran.]
It would have been far easier to turn the entire region to a radio active wasteland of fused glass, but that’s not in line with the “American Way” as a whole.
Here’s the thing. There are other countries in the vicinity. If you ignited a nuclear attack, they’d certainly take offense to the idea of having to live under a cloud of nuclear fallout. Yes, you could probably turn the region into a wasteland. But say goodbye to DC, NYC and LAX you dumbass.
Nov 13, 2009 - 7:58 pm 46. The Wind and the Lion:“Gentlemen, if we fail — and are killed — I certainly hope the World does go to war!”
Nov 13, 2009 - 9:00 pm 47. Pajamas Media » Blogging Rules for Radicals: Chapters Two and Three:[...] world operates not as a leader or a statesman, but as a community organizer-in-chief, seemingly incapable of decisive action and always in campaign mode. Treating the country like an ACORN stomping ground. Riling up the [...]
Nov 14, 2009 - 1:36 am 48. Chuck Pelto:TO: TWaTL
RE: Heh
Spoken like a true jarhead.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Nov 14, 2009 - 6:46 am 49. sol vason:[You haven't lived, until you've almost died.]
Sun Tsu says “never run long distance into battle. You will be out of breath when you get there and unable to fight”.
Cato says “He who hesitates is lost”.
LBJ says “Go home with the boy what brung you”.
Colin Powell says: “You don’t know what you can get away with until you try.”
This Thanksgiving Day Hussein Obama will announce “Our boys will be home by Christmas” and he will bring home our troops in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, West Germany, and Korea.
Nov 14, 2009 - 1:56 pm 50. Fred Beloit:#48
Nov 15, 2009 - 9:32 am 51. ErikZ:Obama says, “I can bow lower than any other leader in the world…watch me now.
I can kiss me own arxx.”
http://hotairpundit.blogspot.com/2009/11/president-obama-vs-rest-of-world.html
I think he’s hoping to let it go bad due to innatention.
It’s win-win. If a miracle happens and it turns out ok, he can claim credit. If things look hopeless, he’ll have good reason to pull the US out.
Nov 16, 2009 - 9:00 am 52. Papa Ray:I think I should bring this up. The fact that both wars are costing billions a day and that [money] is needed to finance the democrat agenda, is what is forefront in their planning and thinking.
In case you missed it Obama’s backers have declared the war on terror, if not over, has taken hind tit in their hope and change program for America.
So they want all this military nonsense ended so that money can be used in what they deem important.
It is as simple as that.
Papa Ray
Nov 16, 2009 - 3:17 pmCentral Texas
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