Obama’s Afghanistan Affliction
The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, indicated in a report that without additional forces, the war against insurgents there will end in certain defeat. This report has left the President with no wiggle room when it comes to escalating the war.
Now the Obama administration is pausing to contemplate “the right strategy.” Shouldn’t it be victory at any cost when it comes to the safety and security of the United States? After all, troops have already been committed.
America has not had an unequivocal wartime victory since World War II. Oh! Wait a minute you might say, “What about the first Gulf War?” Well, we had to go back there again didn’t we?
As General Patton said, “the purpose of war is not to die for your country, it’s to make the other son of a bitch die for his country.” In the case of the Taliban and Al Queda we don’t have enough of these son of a bitches dead yet. For the President of the United States to hesitate or even hint that maybe we need to hold off on sending more troops against the recommendation of General McChrystal borders on irresponsibility for the sake of politics.
Meanwhile, troops currently in Afghanistan are left to burden the load while the Commander-in-Chief ponders his political dilemma and tries to make up his mind on what to do. Such a quandary. To some, maybe. A decisive and bold leader would except the advice of his appointed General and make the decision to send more troops with one order – WIN! Then get out of the way, leave the military alone and let them do what they are fully capable of doing – fighting and winning the war.
As long as the White House Administration continues to subject our warriors with restraining Rules of Engagement and restrict the number of troops to some arbitrary number then those that we place into battle will be reduced to training aids for the enemy. At that point it’s time to pack up the war toys and bring our military home. Obama will then have to shoulder the defeat that he chose.
