Lately I have been very happy with how President Obama is handling the Republicans and that he is fired up anew and ready to tackle the hard choices that he and his administration have to make.
However one of the major flies in the ointment for me is how he has handled Afghanistan. And YES I know he promised to concentrate on winning over there and that there would be a troop increase, but still it has never seemed like the smart choice for America.
And apparently even the people who know the most about the situation agree with me on that.
Here are Ambassador Eikenberry's classified cables which were sent to the Obama administration in early November.
I suggest you read them, watch the video and reach your own conclusions.
Personally, besides making good on a campaign promise, I am not at all sure why our President felt the need to send more young American soldiers to die in this Vietnam like quagmire.
If he is so hell bent on keeping campaign promises I would much prefer he go all in on fixing healthcare in this country, or balancing the budget, or providing more jobs.
And by the way, ending a war or two might be just the thing to help with that whole "balancing the budget" thing. Once again, I am just saying.
I love this president, and know in my heart that he was the best choice for this country in 2008, but sometimes I really have to wonder if even he can really fix the problems created by the Bush administration.
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gryphen sez:
ReplyDelete"I am not at all sure why our President felt the need to send more young American soldiers to die in this Vietnam like quagmire."
it just goes to show you who REALLY runs the country. don't get me wrong - I am still grateful it's obama and not grandpa and grandma. but the reality is that it's the war investors & mic who call the shots. there has to be some kind of war going on - overt or covert, to keep these people happy. threaten to cut off their gravy train, and you don't live very long - we've got atleast 1 past president that serves as an example. I think this is also why obama did the about-face on releasing the 2nd round of torture photos. those who really run things need to protect the ones who are doing their dirty work, otherwise they have no pawns, which ultimately leads to their loss of power and wealth.
If you have listened to what President Obama has said about the war, you would know why he feels it is necessary for us to continue in Afghanistan.
ReplyDeleteOur mission there is greatly changed. We now are focused on helping the people stand on their own. If the Afghan people want to live in peace, they will have to stop allowing the terrorists to use Afghanistan as their home base.
Obama has promised to tell us the truth. He told us that he would not put our soldiers in harms way if he did not feel it was necessary to keep us safe. Since he
has much more information than we do, I'm going to trust him on this.
OT gryphen but you gotta see sullivan's latest palin post:
ReplyDeletehttp://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/02/palin-emanuel-pot-kettle.html#more
finally, someone with a national audience brings up the meaning of trig's name!! finally!
First of all, Afghanistan doesn't want the US occupiers. Only the US puppet Karzai wants the occupation to continue and prop up his unwanted government. That's what needs to be understood first. If that is not understood and accepted then there is no explanation for the main question.
ReplyDeleteAnd to the main question: Obama sent more troops because he knows that the US must consolidate it's power in Afghanistan and the ME in general. This is of course the only reason for any of the wars in the ME, starting with the Gulf War that destroyed Iraq on false pretenses.
And if anybody doesn't understand yet that it's all about the ME's oil then they have unfortunately swallowed way to much of the propaganda pablum.
The sad truth is that Obama needs to win that war just as much as Bush2 needed to win his wars. If America doesn't maintain control over ME oil then it will be bankrupted faster than it already is being bankrupted. The US consumes way too much oil (over 20,000,000 barrels a day)and needs to buy 2/3's of it.
There's the secret that is the elephant in the room. Shhhhh, pretend you didn't hear that!
>it just goes to show you who REALLY runs the country. don't get me wrong - I am still grateful it's obama and not grandpa and grandma.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's true enough. I still get a little teary sometimes when it hits home what an Adult we have as president these days. God bless him.
But special interests and corporate interference are old news in the United States. Read history and you'll find that the interests of the wealthy and powerful have ALWAYS been first and foremost in the minds of those who nominally represent us ... not to mention that those who nominally represent us are usually 'way wealthier and powerful than you and I could ever imagine being. So it's an old fight that must be fought: protecting the interests of the citizenry against the greedy and power-hungry.
Obama is himself a product of elite schools and his innate intelligence. The temptation to align himself with the powerful must be enormous. Yet we remember that his personal direction was in the direction of the empowerment of ordinary people. It was not for nothing that he was a community organizer. And seeing his Neo-like avoidance of Republican bullets during the lunch last Friday was just great; today's similar meeting with the Democrats not so much, but then preaching to the choir isn't as exciting as calling down hell fire and brimstone on sinners. :-)
Come senators, congressmen
ReplyDeletePlease heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
- That Dylan. He blows me away.
Gryphen,
ReplyDeleteThere is a growing community of people who think President Obama's path out of the negative poll numbers (some of the worst for a first year president) is for him to start a war.
If you look at history, few things rally the American people around a president than war. I still can't believe the voters sent Bush back in 2004 for 4 more years so "he could finish the job."
Don't get me wrong. I worked for the New York state Obama campaign in 2007 and 2008 and I proudly voted for him. But, I'm beginning to wonder if this is why he's so enthusiastic about engaging U.S. combat troops in Afghanistan.
I hope I'm wrong.
OT, but from today's Publishers Lunch:
ReplyDelete"In the holiday fiscal second quarter, ending December 31, HarperCollins had sales of $381 million and operating income of $65 million--a considerable improvement from sales of $305 million and a mere $23 million in operating income a year ago. Parent News Corp. says they had "higher sales at the general and the children's book divisions which were partially offset by higher royalty and manufacturing costs."
It's the first quarterly improvement in sales after five straight declines. So Murdoch didn't get hurt by Sarah.
I am totally against Obama's stand on the wars. He has not pulled out of Iraq as he said he would. Troops continue to ship out here in the Nwest.
ReplyDeleteAnd Afganistan, we're killing innocent civilians with our drones on a daily basis!
I want to END THE WARS NOW!
Christopher, you are wrong. While it's true that wars are extremely popular, they are usually only popular with the president's own party. And of course also consider that the Afghanistan war is really Bush2's war and so it gets a certain amount of support from Repubs too this time around.
ReplyDeleteBut to raise his popularity is missing the point. Give him the credit for that at least and then consider that the economic necessity of the war is the reason and you will have it.
The history of Britain's nation building should tell us a lot. What America is doing in the ME is not one bit different from what Britain did in the past.
And as to any other excuses of the Afghanistan war being necessary to root out terrorism, that argument should have been shot down 6 months after the war began and Al Queda was decimated. Decimated in fact because 19 Saudis blew up the WTC. I mean really!
I know our mission has changed in Afghanistan and while I do believe it is our good intention to now help the people of Afghanistan stand on their own, I am far from convinced that is something that is ever going to be accomplished. Karzai is a thug and it serves his own best interest to have the U.S. run interference for him. I am certainly no military strategist, it is just that I don't see how we are going to do any better than the Soviets did in the 1980s. Point well taken about the interests of the wealthy and powerful. Sad but true. I am still proud of President Obama and grateful we have an intelligent, compassionate leader. You may have a good point though Gryphen, maybe even he can't fix everything that Bush Administration turned into one eight year long nightmare .
ReplyDeleteListen, I am all for anyone criticizing American wars. . .it's a duty and a responsibility if you feel that way.
ReplyDeleteHowever, just who and what did you think you were voting for when you cast your vote for Obama? His position on Afghanistan was crystal clear right from the invasion of Iraq.
I am a centrist, and I voted for Obama on the basis of his centrist record. I think those of a further bent Left than I simply were not paying attention when they voted, did not do their homework (like a lot of Palinbots) and now are all offended that Obama is not performing as they 'expected.'
Sorry.
I believe he did not heed their call because we as citizens do not really know what the bush administration has done. We only hear what the media is telling us. we ae not privy to the top secret information that is in the white house. I also, think in order for President Obama not to put fear in the American people of what's really happening in the war that it was decided to send more troops.
ReplyDeleteagain, we really do not know what all as happend regarding the war from the previous administration.