Seeking Benchmarks and "Off-ramps," President Obama Sends Pentagon Officials Back to their Desks

Isn't this the guy who said that the
Bush Administration
"took it's eye off the ball(Afganistan)
and wrongly pursued the Iraq War?
President Obama has done nothing to
improve the situation in Afganistan
since he took office and he's already
looking to get out?
Sounds like he won't even take the
time to look at the ball no less keep
his eye on it!
If Mr Obama wants to "cut and run"
which is the usual foreign policy
option offered by the Democrats then he
should stop wasting time and pull our
troops out now before another of our
brave soldiers loses his or her life!
All of this nonsense about the Afgan
elections appears to be an excuse for
a pull-out.
So please Mr President make a decision.
Either give your hand-picked
General, McCrystal, the troops he needs
to start winning the war or pull-out
before we lose more lives for nothing!

Posted by: harry | Nov 13, 2009 1:21:03 AM: “ By the way, has anyone seen / read the brilliance Obama demonstrated during his college years? Any project papers, any thesis, any literary gems comparable to two best sellers he wrote in his adult life?”

So, Harry, you think Obama should be judged on the basis of his college writings? How about a comparison: drag out good ole GW’s college work for us – LOL. Or better yet ! How about Sarah Palin or bottom-of-his-class Senator McCain's college work?

How old are you? People grow and their thinking evolves AFTER college! Take off your hate blinders.

TParty4USA | Nov 12, 2009 9:33:16 PM posted “Obama is "just now" learning of his own ambassador's views on troops?”

Just in case you hadn’t been keeping up with current events, Afghanistan recently had an election saturated with fraud.

For almost a decade the United States has propped up Hamid Karzai in a position that enriches himself and his warlords. It is a perfect example of George Washington’s warning about "entangling alliances" in his farewell address.

Just because President Bush’s administration embarked on a preemptive war in Afghanistan, then basically ignored funding it properly under a puppet government, doesn’t mean US involvement must continue on the same path.

Sunshine Future | Nov 12, 2009 8:43:37 PM posted: “True leaders make their decisions, take ownership of the results, and move on.”

So, what about the "leadership" decisions that put Afghanistan on the back burner for the past 7 years?

Even before President Obama took office, previous "leadership" decisions about Afghan policy either failed or were overtaken by changes on the ground.

Violence by militants in Afghanistan rose by 30 % in 2008. And the Bush Administration admitted that any policy in Afghanistan must consider the security and economic conditions in neighboring Pakistan.

This isn't about making "decisions on less than 100% certain information". It's a complex quagmire that involves more than Military action.

Buy now he only wants to triumph if it can be done by a certain date?
__________________________________

You would prefer the war went on forever in Afghanistan? You don't think it's smart to have an exit strategy?

Wait- Obama said all through the campaign, after the election in March and then again in August that Afghanistan was the good war and he'll never let the Taliban and al-Qaeda triumph.

Buy now he only wants to triumph if it can be done by a certain date?

Clearly everything he said up until August were just liberal talking points (Guantanamo, Iraq= bad, Afghanistan= good) that he accepted as fact with no actual thought or strategy required.

A child from a broken family, a product of affirmative action quotas, groomed by a bunch of Chicago radicals and trained by Chicago machine politics, the only thing Obama knew well was grievance mongering - basically a polished Jesse Jackson / Al Sharpton. Posted by: harry

Bush, product of a political family, they bought his way in and through everything, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, never started a biz on his own without family intervention, and foreign nationals economic support..... alcoholic, drug abuser, cheerleader, would have ended up in an alley if not for the wealth of his family. Enjoyed making fun of inmates on death row. Cardboard cowboy, all hat and no cow as 'they' say. Liked to start wars without planning how to win them so he could look tough and talk tough. A perfect example of a puppet on a string, and the neo-cons were the ones pulling the strings.

the outcome: near collapse for America

now there's a mission accomplished if there ever was one

Of course, the "abandonment" was such
Posted by: Fascist Hyena

of course, nothing you've said disproves the fact that 'W's policy failure continued in Afghanistan for 8+ years, until the very second he left office.

Pelosi wasn't making strategic war policy decisions for Bush in Afghanistan, maybe Bush didn't make them either... where's Cheney? lest ask him.

With Obama, he can not utter two coherent sentences without a teleprompter!
___________________________________

Right away you reveal your lack of credibility. Many, many televised interviews with experienced journalists prove the current President is very bright, very mentally focused,very well spoken, has a very impressive grasp on any issue he's asked to address - NO TELEPROMPTER.

What a pathetic right wing lie - you oughta be ashamed.

Seriously though, can he sink the moral of the troops any lower after a week like this? First they find out that nobody gave a rat's #### about their safety in their own base. That diversity and the fear of being insensitive was more important than protecting them. That the FBI, who apparently is in charge of homeland security now failed to investigate a terror threat because they were looking at it like a bunch of lawyers instead of a security issue and a possible threat. And on top of that a commander in chief who doesn't seem to know what our benchmark is or even that he is the one that is supposed to define them but never fear, he is going to stay at a Holiday Inn during his Asia trip.

Obama is a Child-king.

He was probably angling to garner a name-recognition in 2008 election cycle so that he can mount serious run for 2012 or 2016.

Combination of factors - such as Media's desire to witness historic first of a black President, Disdain for Hillary in some Democratic quarters, hatred for Bush, and weak Republican Presidential ticket - put Obama on a Presidential throne.

A child from a broken family, a product of affirmative action quotas, groomed by a bunch of Chicago radicals and trained by Chicago machine politics, the only thing Obama knew well was grievance mongering - basically a polished Jesse Jackson / Al Sharpton.

Devoid of any real life experience - not experienced to run even a corner gas station - he learned quickly how to avoid hard decisions by voting "present".

Sadly, that option is not available to US President. Hence, he is flailing, hoping for a way out from the current mess in Afghanistan. Not after he made Afghanistan "a war of necessity" and installed hand-picked General to guide him!

By the way, has anyone seen / read the brilliance Obama demonstrated during his college years? Any project papers, any thesis, any literary gems comparable to two best sellers he wrote in his adult life? I wonder why not? I have heard many great speakers - who graduated from non ivy-league colleges - spread magical spell with mesmerizing words. With Obama, he can not utter two coherent sentences without a teleprompter! Still he is a boy -genious! More appropriate label for Obama would be "proficient parrot"

"especially the ones in Afghanistan, abandoned by Bush and the republicans these 8 years"

Of course, the "abandonment" was such that in April, 2005 Nancy Pelosi was able to declare that "the war in Afghanistan is over."

and it was not George Bush who sent those additional 17,000 troops there this year. It was not George Bush under whom the three bloodiest months of the war have just occurred.

And it is not George Bush who is now the commander-in-chief, with troops in the field effecting the grand new strategy that he himself announced on March 27, sitting for more than three months on his hand-picked commander's plea for reinforcements.

The troops understand. Ultimately, this man will pay dearly for this.

One extra minute for our troops to be hung out to dry in harm's way is ABSOLUTELY UNCONSCIENABLE...The Commander-In-Chief is responsible for the WELFARE OF THE NATION AND OUR TROOPS. Period.
Posted by: Geez Louise

which makes the wasted 8 years in afghanistan due to Bush/Cheney all the more remarkable in that it didn't make a bit of difference to the right or republicans while while they held the White House.

The troops know. Brother, do the troops ever know.
Posted by: Fascist Hyena

especially the ones in Afghanistan, abandoned by Bush and the republicans these 8 years waiting for a cogent policy and plan.....
too many died waiting...... too many wounded, and then the denial of support for more troops by Bush.. shameful..

but hey.... the Iraq war will pay for itself....

"When you're under attack, minutes can make a huge difference."

I'll repeat the question, since this poor fellow has gone to such great lengths to avoid it: what, exactly, should the president have done differently in those seven minutes? And what difference would have been made if he had done whatever it is you think he should have done?

On the other hand, anyone with a shred of human compassion can think of much that should have been done in lieu of a two-minute "shout-out" to a "Congressional Medal of Honor winner" who in fact had not received that award.

The troops know. Brother, do the troops ever know.

Seven minutes. How about 7 hours, 7 days,7 weeks, 7 months.Also Sprach Obama.

IF I HAD A SON, DAUGHTER, HUSBAND, FATHR, MOTHER THERE IN Afghanistan, I would be writing and phoning 24/7, demanding they be relieved of duty immediately, and sent home to Safety, at least until the Top Brass figured out what the plan was.

One extra minute for our troops to be hung out to dry in harm's way is ABSOLUTELY UNCONSCIENABLE...The Commander-In-Chief is responsible for the WELFARE OF THE NATION AND OUR TROOPS. Period.

REMEMBER HARRY TRUMAN? He could make a decision--and not only that, he could call a SPADE a SPADE, and the sign on his desk said, "THE BUCK STOPS HERE".
Imagine That!!!

I never have quite understood what else he was supposed to have done during that seven minutes, nor how the "delay" affected national security at all.
----------------------------

He's the Commander in Chief - the United States was under attack.

When you're under attack, minutes can make a huge difference. You don't sit there reading a goat book.

"Let's see... Bush took 7 mins too long before exiting the room whilst reading to school children (not too mention a national news cam was filming) so as not to create a panic on the morning of 9/11."

I never have quite understood what else he was supposed to have done during that seven minutes, nor how the "delay" affected national security at all.

On the other hand, the consequences of Obama's paralysis are palpable, and are revealed to us every day. The most recent heart-rending event was the mother of the fallen soldier, tearfully pleading with the president to for God's sake make a decision. (He really doesn't know how. He never has.)

Small wonder that the only goofball cheerleaders who bother to show up on this topic are the very dumbest among them.

Remember, Obama has been contemplating Afghan strategy since his election over a year ago.If he doesn't know what to do now, he never will.I find it amazing that someone who is supposedly so intelligent still doesn't know what to do. And folks, he doesn't have a clue.He is a classic affirmative action case- advanced repeated because of what he is,not because of what he knows.Let's face it, despite the press continuously spouting out nonsense about his brilliance the truth is coming out, if people are willing to look.For instance, last week claiming that an individual was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor when he actually received the Medal of Freedom. Even worse was that Mr. Obama PERSONALLY awarded it to him!Talk about dense-if Bush had done that the press would still be talking about how dumb he is.Or believing that the citizens of Austria speak "Austrian". Or believing that American soldiers liberated Auschwitz.Or claiming that Martin Luther King learned nonviolence from Gandhi on a trip to India in 1959.It is becoming abundantly clear why he will not release his transcripts from Occidental and Columbia-they stink.