Analysis: White House Postponing Hard Calls On War

From Yahoo News/AP:

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is holding off major decisions that could put its military forces on a firmer war footing in Afghanistan even as doubts grow about whether the United States can win there.

Many military and diplomatic leaders have urged President Barack Obama to send thousands more Marines, soldiers and pilots to try to reverse Afghanistan's crumbling security situation.

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My Comment: What a difference a year makes. After confidently running on an election platform of what to do on the foreign policy scene and .... more specifically what to do in Afghanistan itself .... we now have a White House that is frozen in its decision making process.

The obvious question that is being asked is .... why? Why are they postponing the 'hard' calls.

My answer .... and I confess it is a guess .... is that President Obama and his advisers now realize that the cost of getting involved in Afghanistan at the level that they talked about last year will actually entail tens of thousands of American troops, tens (if not hundreds) of billions of dollars, numeorus and heavy casualties, and no guarantee of success.

And while Afghanistan is not in the strategic interests of the United States (as long as Al Qaeda is absent from the field), the debate on Afghanistan has become political . .. and more importantly .... it has become a symbol of President Obama's war Presidency. Bailing out of Afghanistan today will result in a political firestorm that will hurt him at home, will hurt him with our allies who are with us in the Afghanistan, it will help in destabilizing a very unstable government in nuclear Pakistan, and more importantly .... it will undermine his Presidency back home.

I am sure that President Obama knows what he has to do .... but it appears that President Obama has become a victim of his own rhetoric .... and (I have recently noticed) that to do the reverse of what he has publicly stated in the past is something that does not come easy to him. Ridiculing President Bush last year was easy (I understand because I did it all the time) .... but he is now in his shoes, and yes .... as President he must now make the hard decisions.

My only advice is .... do what you know is right .... and (please) do not take your time about it. Uncertainty and delay is a killer in wartime .... and our soldiers are presently fighting a terrible war in Afghanistan.