RSSLive From West Point…It’s President Obama
Michael Haltman | November 27, 2009
As If Making The Afghanistan Announcement From West Point Fools Anyone
It has been close to 90 days since the demands made by General McCrystal were aired, and the leisurely process seems to be finally winding down despite itself. The healthcare plan has passed the initial hurdle to get to the Senate floor, so the field is clear to make an announcement on troop strength and strategy.
Now if this was a war the way that WWII was a war and President Obama was a general, we would have been in big trouble. If every decision that is "critical" takes 90 days of gnashing of the teeth to be made, his title could easily be changed from Commander to Procrastinator-in-Chief. The world has seen the President in action and they smell his weakness and indecision the way that a dog smells his dinner. It is obvious to all that he is a master of rhetoric and a failure at prioritizing the needs of the country.
Dealing with the war in Afghanistan or politicking and lobbying for the Olympics? Jobs creation or healthcare? Less taxes on those who can least afford it or more? Tax breaks to small business, one of the primary engines of job creation or more insidious regulation and tax obligations to choke off recovery? The needs of the rank and file or the building of some grand tapestry that he and his cronies envision for the country the same way that Mao envisioned it for China?
Master Of The Metaphor
Now that the wait is winding down, it is obviously no time to announce this long awaited war strategy decision from the Oval Office. That would be a somber way to let the country and the world know. No, this announcement is to big a photo op to let go to waste that way. For the prime time president, his ego and his handlers, the perfect spot needed to be found which would provide the backdrop for a president of this stature.
Where else but in front of young cadets at West Point. What President Obama needs to try and remember is that this decision is not about him. It is about our country and the overall security of the world.
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4 Responses to “Live From West Point…It’s President Obama”
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Mr Haltman, I am a West Point grad and retired officer, who served 25 years on active duty. While we both may call ourselves conservatives, I believe your positions stated here seem to be far too dogmatic and hypocritical for a true conservative. Remember that George Bush was lambasted by liberals for taking the time to think through the surge in Iraq before he made his decision, and that there was much public dissent within his administration over the best course of action. President Bush also gave his “Mission Accomplished” speech from that carrier, which was specifically chosen for the image it conveyed. President Obama, to his credit, is taking the time to force his administration to define our end-game in Afghanistan, which is something that President Bush did not do. Rather than blindly following GEN McChrystal’s recommendations (BTW, he did not demand 40K more troops; he presented a range of options, one of which called for an increase of 40K), President Obama is going through a strategic review to define, for America, what “success” will look like in Afghanistan. What are our goals? At what point will we know we’ve accomplished what we set out to do and can start bringing our soldiers home? What other elements of national power (diplomatic, economic, informational) can we leverage, in concert with our military power, to achieve these goals as quickly and with as few casualties as possible? President Bush did much of this for Iraq, but he did not do it for Afghanistan, and it needs to be done before we commit more troops.
Finally, President Obama is under no obligation to do anything that GEN McChrystal demands, and GEN McChrystal is in no way allowed to present any demands to the President. He makes recommendations, with the analysis to back them up. President Obama is the Commander-in-Chief and makes the decisions. We carry out those decisions to the best of our abilities, whether we agree with them or not.
Finally, I’m tired of us getting a bad name by acting like spoiled brats. That’s what Democrats are supposed to do. We’re supposed to be the adults in the room. Start acting like it.
My reply to you Mr. Neff, as a Marine who fought and bled in Vietnam, I find several problems with your complaints.
First of all Gen. McChrystal is Obama’s guy. He put him there. First rule of command is do not put anyone in a position of power under you unless you trust them and are willing to take their recommendations seriously. What President Obama is doing however is taking a lot of time to decide on something that Gen. McChrystal has already decided on. I.E. the number of troops required.
It should not take three months to analyze this request to determine if it is a good one or not with the intelligence services we have in America. I watched this same crap in Vietnam as troops were requested for regions and the brass would take forever to decide. It cost a lot of lives.
The bottom line is that if Obama does not trust McChrystal’s recommendations then he doesn’t trust McChrystal enough for the General to be in that position and he should be replaced with someone who Obama trusts more on the issue and with opinions of our soldiers more in line with his.
Candidates would be Dick Durbin who thinks our troops are like NAZIs and Jack Murtha who thinks they are murderers.
As a West Point Grad and a Retired Officer you of all people should know how making decisions in a timely manner is important and not doing so hurts morale and costs lives needlessly. Regardless of what Bush did or did not do.
I know they teach this sort of stuff at West Point.
What we see here is the differnce between generals fighting wars and politicians fighting wars. The general on the ground don’t know exactly how many troops they need but they have a pretty good idea and lay out plans which, if they were in charge would already be implimented. Then you have a politician in washington, President Obama, trying to decide politically how many he can get away with sending which is causing a drop in moral and putting soldiers already in theater in danger.
Obama needs to get off his duff and either trust his Generals or get out there in theater himself and run the operation from the desert himself!
The bottom line Casey is that thinking through the options is commendable. Taking months to do it while having exactly 9 meetings is to my mind inexcusable. The Presidents priorities are quite obviously elsewhere, and the symbolism he so desperately seeks by giving this speech at your alma mater fools no one.
He should give this announcement the somber respect that it needs, and not use it as just one more of his incessant publicity stunts.
He should put country first, and politics way down the list.